Chris-^iaoity  and 
Our  tvroas. 


I 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  OUR  TIMES. 


— BY— 


R.  P.  BRQRaP. 


lIBRARy 
OF  THE 
UNIVEfiSITY  Of  ILLINOIS 


CHICAGO 
INTERNATIONAL  BOOK  CO. 
1895. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

EVOLUTION  IN  RELIGION,  .... 

5. 

II. 

MORAL  DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT, 

17. 

III. 

RELATION  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TO  THE  NEW, 

31. 

IV. 

CHRIST  AND  THE  BIBLE,  

41. 

V. 

INTERPRETATION  AND  THE  NEW  DEPARTURE, 

60. 

VI. 

INTERPRETATION  AND  RITUALISM, 

75. 

VII. 

CREED  AND  DISCIPLINE,          -  .  - 

89. 

VIII. 

FUTURE  PUNISHMENT,  .... 

113. 

IX 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  LODGE,          -            .  - 

134. 

X. 

DOCTRINE  OF  SANCTIFICATION, 

146. 

XI. 

SUNDAY  AND  THE  ADVENTISTS, 

156. 

XII. 

SOCIOLOGY  AND  CRIME, 

161. 

XIII. 

MODESTY,           -                -  - 

175. 

XIV. 

WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE, 

193. 

XV. 

IMPENDING  STRUGGLE  OF  RACES.     -            .  - 

204. 

LIBRAHY 
OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


932239 


CHAPTER  I. 


EVOLUTION  IN  RELIGION. 

•*My  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your 
ways  my  ways,  saith  the  Lord.'*  (Isaiah.) 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  preliminary,  that  this  and  suc- 
ceeding chapters  are  not  concerned  about  definitions  and 
interpretations  of  a  denominational  character.  The 
religious  discussion  of  to-day  has  passed  beyond  these. 
The  question  is  now  about  the  facts,  or  what  have  been 
regarded  as  such,  rather  than  their  interpretation.  It  is 
the  foundation  which  God  has  laid  that  is  assailed  rather 
than  the  superstructure  which  men  have  built  upon  it. 
Nice  definitions  and  interpretations  of  the  Bible  arouse 
but  little  attention.  The  question  is  about  the  Bible 
itself,  and  the  facts  of  which  it  is  believed  to  be  a  record. 
It  is  not  so  much  a  battle  of  different  creeds,  as  a  battle 
about  that  which  is  the  foundation  in  all  creeds.  It  is 
so  understood  by  churches  in  general.  Outposts  of  a 
denominational  character  are  little  defended,  and  assaults 
upon  them  are  carelessly  regarded.  There  are  no  her- 
etics of  a  denominational  character,  only  as  they  attack 
that  which  is  fundamental  in  all  creeds  do  they  gain 
attention. 

The  modern  theory  of  evolution  as  applied  to  reli- 
gion has  reference  to  this  fundamental  view  of  it.  It  is 
not  merely  our  understanding  of  religion  that  is  sup- 

/ 


6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

posed  to  be  subject  to  development  and  improvement, 
but  it  is  religion  itself  that  is  evolving  and  progressing. 
This  is  supposable  on  two  conditions;  first,  that  the  facts 
in  religion  have  not  been  all  discovered,  or  else  that 
religion  itself  is  but  a  product  of  the  age. 

The  latter  is  the  ground  of  the  Materialist.  He 
may  confess  that  religion  is  useful  as  a  matter  of  moral 
restraint,  or  as  a  sentiment  beautifying  life  and  giving 
color  to  it;  but  that  beyond  this  there  is  nothing  in  it, 
that  it  is  not  founded  on  facts,  but  is  a  product  of  human 
nature  combined  with  the  conditions  of  life.  Holding 
this  view  it  is  consistent  to  argue  that  religion  may 
change  in  harmony  with  the  age.  It  becomes  then  but 
an  appendage  to  the  existing  civilization,  the  net  result 
jt  sentiments  and  customs.  A  plant  not  planted  by  the 
heavenly  Father  and  which  can  not  be  rooted  up," 
bvi^  an  ephemeral  sprout,  sprung  from  the  sentiments, 
a.h-ctions  and  passions  of  humanity,  tempered  by  time 
and  circumstances;  the  superficial  garment  which  we 
change  with  the  weather,  an  accidental  upturning  of 
-^volution,  development  and  progress. 

"'^^hile  some  of  our  evolutionists  hold  this  view  of  • 
religion,  others  are  Deists,  and  some  profess  to  be  Chris- 
tians. To  these  it  belongs  to  show  facts  on  which  to 
base  their  conclusions.  We  boast  of  the  progress  of 
science,  and  with  reason,  for  new  facts  have  been  and 
are  discovered  continually  in  all  the  branches  of  science, 
and  their  practical  application  makes  progress  possible, 
theoretically  as  well  as  practically.  But  what  new  relig- 
ious fact  has  been  discovered  on  which  to  base  religious 
progress.  In  regard  to  morals,  the  fundamentals  were 
known  as  long  ago  as  we  have  any  knowledge.  The  ten 
commandments  answer  as  well  to-day  as  in  the  time  of 


Evolution  in  Religion.  7 

Moses,  the  summary  of  the  moral  law  announced  by- 
Moses  and  emphasized  by  Christ  "  to  love  God  with  all 
our  heart,  mind  and  strength,  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
self  "  is  broad  enough  even  for  our  age. 

Broadly  distinguished,  there  are  two  sources  from 
which  religious  facts  or  knowledge  may  be  obtained, — 
first,  what  God  has  revealed  to  us  directly,  and  what  he 
has  revealed  to  us  indirectly  through  nature  around  us 
and  within.  Reason,  itself,  is  not  a  source;  we  must 
first  know  of  things  before  we  can  reason  about  them. 
In  regard  to  nature  around  us,  it  suggests  an  almighty, 
creative  power,  its  beauty,  harmony,  grandeur  and 
awfulness  suggest  like  characteristics  in  the  creative 
being.  This  the  ancients  fully  appreciated,  the  heavens 
have  always  "  declared  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firma- 
ment showed  his  handiwork."  **WhenI  consider  the 
heavens  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the  moon  and  the  stars 
which  thou  hast  ordained;  what  is  man" — how  humble  in 
comparison  with  the  power  manifested,  and  naturally 
how  disposed  to  bow  in  reverence  and  worship  the  Cre- 
ator. So  man  observed  and  reasoned  and  caught  the 
inspiration  from  the  beginning  of  his  creation. 

Human  nature  within  has  been  the  same  in  all  ages. 
Adam  and  Eve  exhibited  it  in  the  same  manner  as  we. 
Ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  the  impelling  or  restraining 
force  of  conscience,  the  faculties  and  emotions  of  love, 
hate,  fear,  etc.,  have  been  the  same  as  far  back  as  we 
have  any  record.  The  dual  nature  in  man  with  opposing 
tendencies  were  understood  even  before  St.  Paul  so 
vividly  described  it.  Men,  blinded  by  sin  and  passion^ 
have  denied  to  the  better  part  of  their  nature,  growth 
and  development,  and  so  they  are  doing  to-day  prob- 
ably in  no  less  degree. 


8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

In  regard  to  a  direct  revelation  from  God,  the 
Bible  is  the  only  record  of  such  which  is  admitted.  This 
record  was  completed  iSoo  years  ago.  It  has  been  what 
it  was  meant  to  be — a  revelation.  The  ancients  who 
had  a  mind  for  the  things  of  God  understood  it  as  well 
as  we  do.  Attempts  materially  to  alter  their  interpreta- 
tion have  proved  failures,  admitted  to  be  so  by  those 
who  have  made  such  attempts.  It  has  been  tried  by 
Unitarians  and  like  bodies,  but  proved  too  hard  on  their 
sense  of  honesty  and  was  abandoned.  The  authority  of 
the  Bible  was  finally  set  aside,  and  reason, — or  what 
goes  by  that  name, — was  given  the  supreme  place. 

Whatever  the  source  of  information  or  knowledge  we 
must  insist  on  facts  or  actual  discoveries  as  a  basis  for 
the  supposed  evolution  in  religion,  just  as  much  as  we 
would  if  the  question  was  about  evolution  in  science. 
The  ideas  that  chase  each  other  in  men's  minds,  the 
opinions  and  factions,  the  theories  and  speculations  that 
imagination  is  starting  up  at  every  tUrn,  all  this  is  only 
the  vagaries  common  to  every  age,  and  will  not  do  as 
the  basis  for  actual  progress,  nor  as  proof  that  it  has 
been  accomplished. 

The  two  most  important  religious  doctrines  are 
those  of  the  Supreme  Being  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  It  is  thinkable  that  facts  might  be  discovered  that 
would  actually  increase  our  knowledge  with  regard  to  these 
two  doctrines.  Buthas  such  been  the  case,  has  science  or 
progress  helped  us  to  solve  any  of  the  mysteries  of  God 
and  the  soul's  immortality;  have  our  immense  telescopes 
discovered  the  spirit  world,  the  throne  of  the  Eternal, 
and  bid  faith  become  sight?  It  will  be  answered  that  we 
understand  more  of  God's  creation,  doubtless,  but  do  we 
understand  more  of  the  nature  of  God  and  our  relation 


Evolution  in  Religion.  9 

to  him;  have  the  men  of  science  of  to-day  arrived  to  a 
better  comprehension  of  God,  a  clearer  understanding 
of  their  relation  to  him,  and  a  more  intimate  realization 
of  this  relation?  Men  of  science  as  a  general  thing  do 
not  claim  much  in  this  direction;  some  of  them  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  no  God;  in  more 
cases  they  declare  that  if  there  be  a  God  we  do  not  know 
anything  about  him,  nor  can  we  know;  others  profess  in 
very  fact  to  believe  there  is  a  God,  but  do  not  believe 
we  sustain  any  relation  to  him,  or  can  realize  such  a 
thing.  Something  besides  science  and  progress  will 
evidently  be  needed  if  we  are  to  get  ahead  of  Moses, 
Elijah  or  St.  Paul  in  our  knowledge  of  God  and  the  real- 
ization of  his  presence  and  power.  Taking  the  testimony 
of  science,  God  is  more  unknowable  now  than  ever  be- 
fore. If  scientists  worship  at  all,  it  is  "  mostly  before  the 
altar  of  the  unknowable."  Those  of  them  that  do  in 
fact  profess  to  know  of  God  are  content  to  learn  of 
Moses,  Isaiah,  St.  Paul  or  Christ. 

If  we  consider  the  other  great  religious  doctrine, 
that  of  the  soul's  immortality,  what  do  our  theologians 
of  to-day  know  on  this  subject  from  the  light  of  nature 
that  Plato  did  not  know  and  argue  2,000  years  ago;  or 
what  do  they  know  of  it  from  the  light  of  revelation  that 
St.  Paul  did  not  know  and  argue  1,800  years  ago.  We 
have  science  and  progress  and  liberal  ideas — what  infor- 
mation have  they  furnished  us  on  this  subject.  The 
doctrine  of  the  soul's  immortality,  together  with  that  of 
a  Supreme  Being,  that  concerns  himself  about  us,  are 
fundamental  in  all  religions.  Knowledge  and  discoveries 
on  these  subjects  would  be  gratefully  received;  and  judg- 
ing from  the  pretensions  of  the  new  departure  we  would 
suppose  their  theologians  had  at  last  cleared  up  these  old 


10  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


mysteries  so  essential  to  faith  and  morals.  Have  any  of 
our  new  theologians  had  a  peep  behind  the  veil  that  was 
not  vouchsafed  to  former  generations.  The  interest  in 
the  future  world  is  immense,  even  charlatans  are  heard 
when  they  pretend  to  speak  knowingly  on  this  subject; 
millions  stand  waiting  with  bated  breath  for  someone  to 
declare  to  us  the  certainty.  St.  Paul  was  caught  up  to 
the  third  heaven  and  heard  words  that  it  is  not  lawful 
for  man  to  utter,  have  any  of  our  -'new  lights  "  been 
caught  up  to  heaven  and  seen  that  "  they  were  all  there," 
or  down  to  the  other  place  and  seen  the  fires  extin- 
guished, so  that  they  might  bid  the  wicked  take  courage, 
and  dispute  established  doctrines  on  the  ground  of  per- 
sonal or  superior  knowledge.  But  alas,  for  their  efforts 
not  a  scrap  of  additional  knowledge  has  been  forthcom- 
ing. Differences  in  opinion,  now  as  ever,  are  the  result 
of  differences  in  sentiment  and  different  degrees  of  faith. 
Evolution  has  evolved  nothing,  development^developed 
nothing,  progress  has  left  us  in  regard  to  the  subject 
where  we  were  thousands  of  years  ago.  We  may  be- 
lieve the  Bible,  and  take  the  hints  of  nature  and  so  might 
our  ancestors  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  knowledge. 

People  of  to-day  in  the  pride  of  their  achievements 
in  the  field  of  science  and  material  progress,  scorn  the 
idea  that  an  age  that  is  past  should  be  permitted  to  do 
the  thinking  for  them  on  any  subject.  But  the  Al- 
mighty has  claimed  the  right  to  do  some  thinking  for 
us,  and  made  it  known  even  to  former  generations  for 
our  benefit.  His  thoughts  are  not  evanescent,  they  are 
not  apt  to  become  obsolete.  "God's  thoughts  are  not 
like  men's  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  like  our  ways."  Some 
of  his  thoughts  about  men  are  not  complimentary,  some 
of  his  precepts  not  to  their  taste,  and  some  of  his  warn- 


Evolution  in  Religion. 


ings  are  alarming.  We  have  the  liberty  to  disregard  his 
thoughts  and  perhaps  to  do  so  will  seem  to  widen  the 
gate  and  broaden  the  way  before  us,  but  Christ  says  the 
end  of  that  way  is  perdition. 

It  was  necessary  that  the  Creator  should  thus  from 
the  very  beginning  declare  to  man  his  thoughts  and  re- 
veal to  him  both  his  own  nature  and  man's  nature,  their 
mutual  relation,  and  the  possibilities  before  man.  He 
had  a  soul  to  save  as  well  as  we,  and  the  Creator  was 
interested  in  him  as  much  as  in  us.  He  could  not  afford 
to  let  him  go  groping  till  he  had  accidentally  stumbled 
upon  the  knowledge,  or  till  evolution  and  progress  had 
turned  it  up  somewhere  along  in  the  ages.  The  steam 
engine  and  electric  light  might  thus  be  left  as  contingen- 
cies, but  "  the  light  which  lighted  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world"  and  the  road  to  heaven  could  not  be 
left  to  man's  ingenuity  and  invention  to  discover.  We 
must  believe  that  God  has  done  for  man  what  he  could 
in  this  respect  from  the  very  beginning,  and  that  ignor- 
ance is  due  to  sin,  and  the  fact  that  men  "  do  not  desire 
the  knowledge  of  God." 

The  evolution  theory  is  not  only  applied  to  religion 
itself ;  but  also  to  the  human  race,  its  social,  moral  and 
religious  development.  It  is  really  but  two  ways  of 
presenting  the  same  question.  In  the  express  words  of 
a  leading  evolutionist:  "The  theory  of  evolution  in- 
volves the  belief  that  from  the  beginning  to  end  it  goes 
on  irresistibly  and  unconsciously."  The  force  behind  this 
supposed  movement  may  be  conceived  to  be  God,  or 
something  inherent  in  nature,  according  to  the  faith  of 
the  theorist.  It  is  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  predesti- 
nation worked  over,  mainly  by  those  who  have  become 
impressed  with  it  by  early  associations.    Being  dissatis- 


12  Christianity  and  Our  Times* 

fied  with  the  old  form  of  belief,  and  yet  having  the  idea 
ingrafted  in  them,  they  set  to  work  to  give  it  a  shape 
that  better  suited  their  temperament.  The  principle  is 
the  same  but  the  result  looked  for  is  different.  Presby- 
terians believe  they  find  their  doctrine  in  the  Bible. 
Evolutionists  take  it  for  granted  that  religious  and  moral 
evolution  is  bound  up  with  material  progress  and  increase 
of  knowledge,  though  history  more  often  presents  the 
two  as  moving  in  opposite  directions.  As  in  the  words 
quoted  above,  this  evolution  is  believed  to  be  from  be- 
ginning to  end  an  unconscious  movement  in  a  straight 
line,  including  the  whole  race,  we  are  in  it  whether  we 
would  or  not  and  whether  we  are  conscious  of  it  or  not. 
It  would  occur  to  one  at  once,  that  this  irresistible,  all- 
controlling  something  would  relieve  the  individual  of  a 
great  responsibility,  both  in  regard  to  himself  and  the 
world's  progress.  We  are  told,  however,  that  our 
volitions,  motives,  desires  and  actions  are  part  of  it — as 
wheels  in  a  clock-work,  but  it  remains  as  much  a  clock- 
work as  before  the  explanation.  Absolute  irresistible 
sovereignty  and  free  moral  agency,  it  is  the  old  enigma 
which  philosophers  have  tried  in  vain  to  solve  so  as  to 
make  it  look  consistent  with  reason  and  the  facts  of  which 
we  are  conscious.  The  Presbyterian  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination has  been  accused  of  cruelty  and  the  like;  the 
evolutionists  do  not  err  on  that  side.  They  have  not 
been  hampered  by  any  revelation  of  Scripture  and  are 
but  little  inconvenienced  by  the  revelation  of  facts. 
They  ask  themselves  what  results  are  desired,  and  behold 
-  it  is  granted.  It  is  that  "  larger  hope,"  which  would 
have  us  hope  that  sin  and  evil  is  not  what  it  is  seen,  felt 
and  declared  to  be.  Unfortunately  for  their  theory,  the 
world  of  facts  does  not  work  in  harmony  with  it.  The 


Evolution  in  Religion.  13 

world  in  history  and  at  present  look  very  much  as  though 
free  moral  agents  of  indifferent  character  have  had  the 
control  of  it  and  shaped  it,  rather  than  some  irresistible 
power  supposed  toH^e  beneficent  and  overruling  every- 
thing, including  the  action  of  free  moral  agents.  The 
world  and  its  history  look  as  though  men  have  in  very 
fact  been  free  and  done  about  "as  they  listed."  The 
ugliness  of  sin  is  more  conspicuous  than  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  the  ruins  and  wastes  of  a  demoralized  race  are 
strewn  all  along  the  ages.  It  is  not  a  concerted  move- 
ment, but  opposing  movements.  There  has  been  no 
irresistible,  all-controlling  power,  preventing  man  from 
crossing  God's  plan  of  goodness  and  marring  his  creation. 
No  uniform  result  is  -produced,  but  on  the  contrary,  re- 
sults as  far  apart  as  the  east  is  from  the  west;  spots  of 
heaven  here,  and  bottomless  pits  of  hell  there.  Such 
things  as  hells  could  never  have  been  possible  within  the 
boundaries  of  God's  creation,  unless  corrupt  beings  were 
free  to  act  out  their  own  characters  and  destiny,  in  spite 
of  supreme  goodness.  Perhaps  we  are  told  that  all  these 
ugly  facts  are  but  dreams  that  will  vanish.  We  have  to 
do  only  with  what  we  know,  the  facts  of  the  present  and 
past.  We  can  judge  of  the  future  only  in  the  light  of 
what  we  know  or  have  known.  Of  these  there  has  been 
nothing  more  impressive  than  sin  and  pain.  This  is  the 
realization  that  keeps  us  interested  and  awake  in  spite  of 
ourselves.  Pain  will  convince  us  that  there  is  no  mis- 
take about  it.  We  might  dream  away  heaven  and  hap- 
piness, the  true  and  the  beautiful,  and  make  believe  they 
are  inrealities,  but  not  sin,  pain  and  misery. 

Excited  imaginings  of  the  future  of  this  earth  are 
common  nowadays,  but  whatever  of  progress  there  may 
be,  it  will  remain  true  that  our  Hfe  in  this  world,  as  well 


14  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

as  the  world  itself,  is  but  a  temporary  affair,  liable  to  be 
snuffed  out  like  a  candle  any  time.  We  are  told  to  look 
for  revelations  of  wonder  both  in  the  religious  and  scien- 
tific world,  the  future  even  one  or  ten  thousand  years 
hence  is  held  up  to  view.  We  will  not  have  to  wait  so 
long  for  new  revelations  of  all  kind.  The  future  world 
so  near  on  hand,  will  have  new  revelations  far  surpassing 
anything  this  world  can  ever  offer,  and  being  so  much 
nearer  on  hand  than  the  distant  future  of  this  world,  it 
ought  to  concern  us  the  more,  and  we  ought  to  look  for 
it  in  the  light  of  the  revelations  which  Christ  said  should 
endure  till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away.  We  find  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  excited  over  evolution  and  progress, 
and  spoiling  what  little  they  might  "do  to  better  the  world 
for  vain  imaginings  of  what  evolution  is  going  to  bring 
about  a  hundred  years  hence.  What  if  God  again  should 
come  down  and  confound  our  Babel  .which  we  are 
boasting  to  build  up  into  heaven,  as  more  than  once  in 
ages  past,  obliterating  rising  and  prosperous  civiliza- 
tions so  that  even  their  knowledge  and  inventions,  largely, 
have  perished  and  some  of  it  not  yet  re-discovered. 

Revelation  speaks  in  genenil  terms  about  the  future 
of  the  human  race,  not  as  setting  boundaries  that  would 
imply  limitations  to  man's  freedom  of  action,  but  rather 
as  predictions  in  the  form  of  calculations  based  on  ten- 
dencies and  forces  within  and  outside  of  man,  the  gen- 
eral result  weighed  and  balanced  by  the  highest  wisdom. 
Isaiah  paints  the  future  of  the  church  in  glowing  im- 
agery. Christ  speaks  in  plain  terms  of  increasing  wick- 
edness to  the  end  of  time.  There  is  no  contradiction 
between  the  two.  The  church  of  God's  saints  is  one 
things,  "the  world"  is  another,  the  Bible  never  con- 
founds  the  two.     Humanity   is  not  moving  in  one 


Evolution  in  Religion.  iS 

direction,  individuals  are  all  the  time  choosing  and  going 
in  opposite  directions.  The  general  tendency  of  human 
nature  is  downward,  it  takes  supernatural  force  to  arrest 
this  tendency  and  turn  it  in  the  opposite  direction.  This 
force  is  a  moral  influence  which  men  may  resist  and  by 
resisting  lose  it.  Whenever  this  force  has  been  lacking, 
nations  and  civilizations  have  gone  down  rapidly  and 
sometimes  perished  in  their  corruption.  *We  believe 
truth  and  righteousness  will  have  victories  in  the  future 
as  in  the  past,  and  such  will  be  needed  to  arrest  moral 
degeneration.  Mere  knowledge,  scientific  and  otherwise, 
is  a  pov/er  that  is  enlisted  in  the  service,  both  of  good 
and  evil,  and  used  effectually  by  both.  Discoveries  and 
knowledge  rather  tend  to  intensify  the  struggle  than  to 
make  certain  the  result.  Wealth,  like  knowledge,  is  a 
power  both  for  good  and  evil.  Enormous  increase  of 
wealth  is  more  generally  a  two-edged  sword  on  the  side 
of  evil,  on  the  one  hand  a  means  of  oppression,  on  the 
other  of  luxury  and  self-indulgence.  Material  develop- 
ment inevitably  results  in  increased  density  of  population, 
which  creates  new  problems  and  increases  dangers;  with 
all  our  knowledge  and  skill,  we  have  scarcely  been  able 
this  last  quarter  of  a  century,  to  meet  the  dangers  and 
solve  the  problems  as  fast  as  they  have  arisen.  History 
and  present  experience  are  decidedly  against  the  pre- 
sumption that  any  or  all  the  factors  of  material  progress,  * 
will  insure  a  moral  redemption  of  the  race.  To  knovvr 
how  the  future  of  the  world  will  be,  we  must  wait  and 
see  how  men  will  act.  It  is  the  free  moral  force  in  man 
that  will  make  the  world  what  it  is  going  to  be  in  the 
future  as  it  has  in  the  past,  there  is.no  other  factor  or 
inherent  necessity  that  will  decide  the  result.  We  do 
not  forget  that  God  is  a  factor  in  the  life  and  destiny  of 


1 6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  human  race,  but  reason  demands  it  to  be  taken  for 
granted  he  has  done  the  very  best  he  could  in  the  past, 
if  the  world  has  been. wicked  in  the  past  in  spite  of  all 
God  could  do,  it  may  continue  to  be  so  in  the  future  if 
it  choose. 


CHAPTER  II. 


MORAL  DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

"The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth;  but  the  wbrd  of 
our  God  shall  stand  forever."  Isaiah. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  chapter  to 
examine  criticism  of  historical  portions  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, except  in  a  general  way,  only  as  what  is  recorded 
as  facts  can  be  proved  false,  has  it  a  bearing  upon  the 
moral  quality. 

Modern  criticism  is  concerned  about  the  truth  and 
reliability  of  the  history  of  the  Bible,  the  books  them-  ' 
selves  and  the  account  they  give.  It  is  a  question  of 
infinite  detail  and  boundless  room  for  difference  of 
opinion  and  controversy.  The  critcism,  although  the 
critics  are  many,  may  very  well  be  viewed  as  a  whole, 
for  although  opinions  differ  widely  on  many  points,  there 
are  certain  broad  characteristics  and  agreements  as  to 
main  results.  A  Christian  inquiring  as  to  the  value  of 
this  criticism,  could  not  afford  at  once  to  occupy  himself 
with  the  details  of  it,  this  would  take  time  and  in  some 
respects  special  training.  But  he  would,  from  his  know- 
ledge and  comprehension  of  the  spirit  and  text  of  the 
Bible,  be  eminently  fit  to  judge  of  the  general  character 
both  of  the  critics  and  their  criticism.  He  would  be 
able  to  tell  whether  the  general  tone  and  expression  of 
the  criticism  is  such  as  inspires  confidence  in  the  single- 


.  1 8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

ness  of  aim,  the  impartiality  and  disinterested  love  of 
truth  on  the  part  of  the  critic,  for  this  is  above  all  things 
demanded,  and  a  critic  cannot  be  one  without  pretend- 
ing to  it.  It  should  also  be  asked  whether  the  critic  has 
a  fair  comprehension  of  the  spirit  of  the  book  he  is 
criticising,  and  whether  or  not  he  is  constitutionally  op- 
posed to  the  general  claim  of  the  Bible  as  a  special  rev- 
elation from  God,  and  perhaps  unable  to  comprehend  it 
as  a  record  of  supernatural  manifestations;  if  this  were 
the  case, 'he  would  be  both  unwilling  and  unfit  to  inves- 
tigate the  claim.  As  to  disinterestedness  and  impar- 
tiaHty  where  religion  is  concerned,  it  may  as  well  be  taken 
for  granted,  from  general  experience,  that  there  is  none. 
Men  may  be  disinterested  and  impartial  in  treating  of 
politics  or  science,  but  we  never  saw  a  disinterested 
statement  about  religion  or  the  Bible.  It  touches  the 
most  vital  part  of  man's  nature  and  he  will  be  interested 
as  Christ  said  "  he  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me."  In 
general  it  is  true  that  the  critics  who  are  most  profuse  in 
their  profession  of  friendliness  and  disinterestedness  are 
the  most  virulent  in  their  prejudices  and  opposition  to 
the  Bible.  This  prejudice  and  opposition  to  the  spirit 
and  text  of  the  Bible  is  cropping  out  continually  in  their 
treatment  of  the  subject,  and  the  professionalism  of  the 
critic,  which  naturally  engenders  pride,  conceit  and 
vanity,  tends  to  strengthen  it.  To  find  an  occasion  and 
make  a  point  is  the  aim,  and  no  profession  was  ever  more 
skillful  in  making  out  an  occasion  and  profit  by  it.  That 
truth  may  be  found  in  spite  of  prejudice  and  constitu- 
tional disadvantages  is  admitted,  but  the  presumption 
against  their  efforts  as  a  whole  is  naturally  strong. 

Itmay  seem  unjust  to  treat  the  critics  as  a  class,  it  is 
true  that  they  are  not  equally  opposed  to  Christianity, 


Moral  Difficulties  in  the  Old  Testament.  19 
but  neither  can  they  be  said  to  have  accepted  it,  they 
may  therefore  be  viewed  as  a  class  outside  the  Christian 
faith.  A  critical  investigation  of  the  Bible  involves  an 
attitude  of  doubt  and  suspense,  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  claim  of  acceptance.  We  must  first  be  through 
with  our  investigation  and  arrive  at  definite  conclusions 
before  we  can  be  said  to  have  accepted  it.  It  is  per- 
haps the  most  serious  charge  against  the  whole  class  that 
they  do  not  as  a  general  thing  take  their  place  where 
they  belong.  Nearly  all  profess  themselves  Christians, 
while  they  are  yet  investigating  the  claims  of  Christianity 
upon  their  acceptance.  They  excuse  their  inconsistency 
by  telling  us,  that  no  matter  what  may  or  may  not  be 
true,  there  will  always  be  some  truth  and  some  kind  of  a 
Christ  left  us.  But  this  is  not  the  question.  What  is 
generally  left  them  in  the  process  of  their  investigation, 
is  a  residuum  of  historical  truth  and  moral  precepts. 
This  is  not  the  Christian  religion,  it  is  not  religion  or 
Christianity  at  all,  even  when  it  is  coupled  with  the  name 
and  person  of  some  kind  of  a  Christ.  Christianity  pur- 
ports to  include  a  scheme  of  redemption,  the  plan  and 
purpose  of  which  is  revealed  through  the  prophets,  and 
finally  by  God  himself  appearing  in  this  world  as  "  the 
word  made  flesh  and  dwelling  among  us."  The  con- 
necting links  of  this  plan  begins  at  the  very  creation 
with  the  fall  and  corruption  of  man,  and  ends  only  with 
the  dissolution  of  all  things  earthly.  The  value  of  Chris- 
tianity in  connection  with  the  moral  law  is  rather  that  of 
sanction  than  revelation,  We  may  know  the  moral  law 
without  Christianity,  but  we  could  not  know  that  God 
would  in  the  other  world  sit  in  judgment  upon  our  acts, 
and  that  the  consequences  of  them  would  be  eternal  bliss 
pr  woe.    Of  no  less  importance  is  the  revelation  of  God 


20  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

as  a  Spirit  in  the  world,  it  reveals  to  us  the  fact  that  we 
can  have  communion  with  God,  be  conscious  of  his 
presence  and  power  in  our  own  soul  and  in  those  around 
us.  Both  the  Old  and  new  Testaments  are  saturated 
with  this  teaching.  It  is,  holiness  and  communion  with 
God,  far  above  any  morality.  When  those,  therefore, 
who  have  nothing  left  of  the  Bible  but  a  residuum  of 
historical  truths  and  moral  precepts,  profess  themselves 
believers  in  Christianity  and  its  religion,  they  are  dis- 
honest, for  they  could  not  be  honestly  ignorant  of  the 
fact,  that  this  is  neither  Christianity  nor  Veligion. 

A  Christian  may  have  sufficient  confidence  in  his 
faith  to  investigate  the  claims  of  the  critics  without  los- 
ing his  character  as  a  Christian.  But  in  so  far  as  he 
assumes  the  attitude  of  the  critic,  that  of  an  investigator, 
his  faith  is  suspended,  and  his  character  as  a  Christian 
impaired,  he  must  wait  for  results  of  his  investigation 
before  his  faith  can  become  settled.  There  is  no  virtue 
in  pretending  to  a  faith  that  is  a  mere  state  of  idle 
passivity;  but  the  Scriptures  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
evidence  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  strongest  faith  of  an 
intelligent  moral  character;  a  state  of  doubt  and  suspense 
is  ascribed  to  sin  and  moral  weakness.  That  this  is  the 
state  of  very  many  Christians  nowadays  is  apparent,  and 
the  effort  to  change  their  position  everytime  the  critics 
cry  "  lo  here,  or  lo  there  "  is  painful.  Those  who  depend 
upon  the  critics  to  settle  their  faith  and  determine  for 
them  what  to  believe,  may  have  to  wait  long,  and  it  is 
not  likely  that  their  faith  will  at  any  time  be  sufficiently 
strong  or  settled  to  remove  mountains,  nor  a  molehill. 
The  critics  are  not  concerned  about  having  the  faith  set- 
tled, if  it  should  become  settled  their  vocation  would  be 
gone,  and  this  is  a  principal  consideration. 


Moral  Difficulties  in  the  Old  Testament.  21 

If  it  is  merely  a  question  of  finding  occasions  for 
doubt  or  disputes,  such  can  scarcely  ever  be  lacking.  In 
regard  to  many  questions,  evidence  cannot  be  adduced 
after  this  lapse  of  time  that  will  compel  belief.  In  such 
cases  the  natural  bias  of  the  disputant  is  apt  to  determine 
his  convictions.  The  believer'will  fall  back  on  his  faith 
in  inspiration.  Those  on  the  other  hand  who  are  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  will  easily  make 
out  a  case  against  it.  A  more  or  less  airy  hypothesis, 
will,  in  their  eyes,  assume  the  shape  of  a  solid  demon- 
stration; the  objection  that  can  be  made  to  appear  plaus- 
ible, will  at  once  be  accepted  as  proved;  whatever  is  not 
quite  plain,  will  be  seen  as  an  insurmountable  obstacle, 
and  difficulties  will  be  aggravated  with  care  and  skill. 
One  cannot  fail  to  perceive  these  characteristics  in  the 
writings  of  the  critics,  and  their  defenders,  for  they  are 
conspicuously  apparent. 

But  besides  the  question  of  the  truthfulness  of  Old 
Testament  history,  and  its  moral  import,  there  is  an  ac- 
count to  be  given  of  the  morality  of  the  Old  Testament 
times  as  practiced  by  those  whom  God  endorsed  as 
worthy  of  favor.  Of  course,  the  question  does  not  con- 
cern itself  about  the  morality  of  the  ancients  apart  from 
God's  approval  or.  toleration,  it  might  be  what  it  would 
aside  from  this,  but  when  those  who  are  said  to  have  been, 
recipients  of  divine  favor  practiced  certain  things  of  which 
we  disapprove,  it  is  natural  to  ask  for  an  explanation. 
Of  course  many  have  been  given,  but  there  may  be  room 
for  one  more. 

First  in  regard  to  social  purity,  we  find  from  the 
Bible  and  other  accounts,  that  the  ancients  were  not  in- 
ferior to  those  of  modern  times  in  their  appreciation  of 


22  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

virtue,  and  detestation  of  vice.  Their  laws  against  im- 
purity and  their  praise  of  virtue  prove  this.  But  what 
then  about  the  practice  of -polygamy;  it  was  not  con- 
trary to  their  ideas  of  virtue  and  purity.  Then  their 
ideas  were  faulty,  doubtless,  but  it  is  one  thing  to  have 
faulty  ideas,  and  conform  to  a  low  standard,  it  is  an- 
other thing  to  practice  what  we  know  and  believe  to  be 
wrong.  Let  the  objector  imagine  himself  back  among 
the  ancients  when  polygamy  was  the  common  custom 
and  try  to  convince  the  patriarch  that  his  family  life  is 
immoral.  The  patriarch  demands  the  proof,  how  will 
our  modern  objector  furnish  it?  He  c.innot  prove  that 
polygamy  is  wrong  in  the  same  sense  that  theft  or  mur- 
der is  wrong,  for  the  polygamist  takes  nothing  either  by 
force  or  fraud  that  belongs  to  anyone  else.  He  might 
urge  that  it  offends  his  sense  of  what  is  proper.  But 
what  right  has  he  to  make  his  sense  of  propriety  a  stand- 
ard for  others,  especially  for  those  of  another  land  and 
age.  Suppose  the  polygamist  offend  nobody's  sense  of 
propriety  and  that  nobody  sees  anything  objectionable 
in  it.  The  objector  might  urge  again  that  it  is  not  ac- 
cording to  the  highest  ideas  of  home  life,  that  it  does 
not  develop  the  home  relations  to  that  perfection  of 
which  they  are  capable.  But  here  again  he  makes  his 
own  feelings  and  sympathies  the  standard,  the  polyga- 
mist might  simply  answer,  that  their  ideas  differ,  that  he 
has^  a  right  to  judge  from  his  own  feelings  and  experience 
rather  than  from  that  of  the  objector,  and  that  he  be- 
lieves happiness  and  purity  is  obtainable  in  his  case  as 
well  as  in  that  of  the  other.  He  steals  nobody's  prop- 
erty, offends  nobody's  sense  of  propriety,  his  wives  are 
in  sympathy  with  him,  are  not  conscious  of  any  wrong 
done  them.    How  is  our  modern  objector  going  to  pro- 


Moral  Difficulties  in  the  Old  Testament.  23 

secute  his  case  and  convince  the  patriarch  except  of  this, 
that  their  feelings  and  ideas  differ. 

What  may  really  be  said  of  the  patriarchal  custom 
is,  that  it  is  the  characteristic  of  a  low  level.  God  in 
his  Word  had  set  before  men  the  higher  standard;  he 
had  pictured  Eden  as  the  abode  of  one  man  with  one 
wife;  he  had  made  no  provision  for  polygamy,  but  in 
his  arrangement  as  well  as  in  his  words  put  it  out  of 
sight.  Man  degenerated  to  a  lower  level  and  this  with 
other  customs  characteristic  of  a  low  level  became  the 
consequence. 

How  God  may  tolerate  what  he  does  not  approve 
of,  may  be  seen  and  illustrated  by  the  case  of  civil  gov- 
ernment among  the  Jews.  God  had  set  before  the  peo- 
ple as  his  standard,  a  republic,  founded  on  preference 
for  wisdom  and  virtue.  But  the  people  were  unable  to 
maintain  this  high  standard  of  government,  and  God — 
not  without  protest  —  allowed  them  the  government 
characteristic  of  a  lower  level,  namely,  the  despotism  of 
a  king.  Why  has  not  our  modern  objector  discovered 
the  incompatibility  of  allowing  this  as  well  as  polygamy 
and  bondage?  Only  because  the  low  level  in  regard  to 
government  is  so  near  our  Own  time  that  we  have  not 
yet  become  greatly  impressed  with  the  offense  against  a 
high  standard  of  life  involved  in  this  kind  of  govern- 
ment. Yet  the  absolute  rule  of  one  man  over  a  multi-- 
tude  of  his  fellows,  the  average  of  which  are  his  equals 
and  some  of  them  his  superiors  in  wisdom  and  virtue,  is 
an  offence  against  social  and  civil  life  as  great  as  that 
of  polygamy  or  bondage.  But  the  government  of  a 
despotism  is  better  than  no  government,  better  than  anar- 
chy, and  the  family  relation  of  polygamy  is  better  than 
no  family,  and  not  much  worse  than  the  free  love  tend- 


24  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

encies  of  our  age.  For  this  reason  we  can  believe  that 
David  was  good  although  both  a  despot  and  a  polyga- 
mist,  and  that  God  was  good  who  gave  him  credit  for 
goodness.  \Ve  bear  with  man's  infirmities  due  to  ignor- 
ance aud  the  influence  of  surroundings;  but  if  he  sin 
against  light  and  knowledge,  then  there  is  an  end  of  ex- 
cuse. There  is  a  distinction  between  what  is  lower, 
compared  with  what  is  higher  and  that  which  cannot  fail 
to  be  absolutely  wrong  under  all  circumstances.  The 
ancients  never  had  any  doubt  of  difference  as  to  what  is 
absolutely  wrong,  such  as  murder,  theft,  adultery,  per- 
jury and  the  like.  If  we  had  found  in  the  Bible  that  any 
of  these  had  been  condoned  by  God,  or  practiced  with 
impunity  by  men  whom  the  Bible  calls  good,  the  case 
would  have  been  clear  and  no  defense  attempted. 

The  lower  becomes  unpardonable  when  brought 
into  contact  with  the  higher  and  still  persisted  in.  When 
a  community  like  that  of  the  Mormons  persist  in  prac- 
ticing polygamy  in  spite  of  warnings  and  a  better  exam- 
ple, it  is  right  that  the  state  should  interfere,  for  it  is  a 
crime  deliberately  to  lower  ourselves  in  the  scale  of 
being. 

In  regard  to  slavery,  we  may  in  the  first  place  dis- 
pose of  what  in  our  age  is  understood  by  slavery,  as  it 
has  been  known  in  our  Southern  States.  The  negroes 
were  stolen  from  their  homes  in  Africa,  and  known  to  be 
stolen  or  forced;  they  were  bought  by  the  slave-holders. 
The  law  of  Moses  provides  that  "  He  that  stealeth  a  man, 
and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand  he  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death."  This  passage  pronounces  sen- 
tence of  death  on  all  the  former  slave-holders  in  the 
South,  for  the  stolen  negroes  or  their  descendants  were 
found  in  their  hands. 


Moral  Difficulties  in  the  Old  Testament.  25 

What  may,  properly  speaking,  be  called  slaves, 
either  among  the  Jews  or  surrounding  nations  were  cap- 
tives taken  in  war.  It  was  a  law  of  war  among  the  na- 
tions, that  when  an  enemy  surrendered  himself,  his  life 
was  surrendered  and  at  the  disposal  of  the  captor  He 
might  be  put  to  death,  or  he  might  be  kept  as  a  slave, 
and  sold  or  bought  as  such.  In  either  case  no  fault  was 
found,  . they  did  as  they  expected  to  be  done  by.  In 
going  to  war  they  were  prepared  to  take  the  natural  con- 
sequences, which  were  very  serious,  as  the  results 
of  war  must  be  under  all  circumstances.  There  is  no 
more  to  be  said  about  the  natural  results  of  war  than 
about  war  itself.  The  necessity  of  it,  or  the  possibility, 
is  inherent  in  the  depravity  of  the  human  race.  What 
was  allowed  the  Jews  in  this  connection  was  not  slavery 
in  its  essential  character,  but  the  right  of  war  according 
to  international  rules  and  customs.  It  was  necessary 
that  they  should  be  on  equal  footing  with  surrounding 
nations  in  this  respect,  for  sentiment  on  the  part  of  one 
nation  can't  oppose  force  on  the  part  of  another. 

What  were  called  bondmen  among  the  Jews  were 
such  as  were  sold  for  debt,  or  such  as  sold  their  time  and 
labor  voluntarily.  When  debt  is  incurred,  justice  de- 
mands it  should  be  paid,  and  all  that  was  at  the  disposal 
of  the  debtor,  all  that  had  money  value  was  put  under 
requisition  toward  paying  the  debt.  Property  was  first 
taken  possession  of,  if  this  did  not  suffice  to  square  up 
the  account,  then  the  money  value  of  the  person  of  the 
debtor  was  considered,  together  with  those  of  his  wife 
and  children,  looked  upon  as  one  with  himself.  So  far, 
the  principle  aimed  at  was  nothing  but  justice,  pure  and 
simple.  However  it  was  not  untempered  with  mercy, 
for  the  law  provided  that  persons  thus  taken  possession 


26  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

of  could  only  be  held  to  the  Sabbath  year,  which  might 
be  the  next,  or  it  might  at  most  be  six  years  hence;  and 
then  it  was  distinctly  provided  that  they  should  not  be 
sent  away  empty. 

At  the  present  time  persons  are  not  indeed  taken 
possession  of  in  payment  of  debt,  but  their  time  and 
labor  may  as  truly  be  laid  under  contribution.  How 
many  slave  all  their  life  to  pay  a  debt  and  hardly  get  the 
food  and  clothing  the  bondman  was  allowed;  they  do  it 
nowadays  without  any  hope  of  a  Sabbath  year  to  cancel 
the  claim  upon  them.  Not  only  had  the  person  of  the 
debtor  to  be  set  at  liberty  within  a  reasonable  time,  but 
his  homestead,  if  it  had  been  sold  for  debt,  must  be  re- 
stored to  him  or  his  family  at  the  year  of  Jubilee.  It 
was  moreover  provided  that  usury  or  interest  must  not 
be  taken  for  money  lent  to  help  a  man  in  his  necessity. 
Besides  this,  the  Mosaic  law  contains  numerous  exhorta- 
tions and  provisions  in  favor  of  the  poor,  the  stranger, 
the  fatherless  and  the  widow.  Under  the  law  of  Moses, 
monopoly  in  land  or  money,  or  the  centralization  of 
wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few  was  impossible.  There  will 
be  a  need  of  studying  the  law  of  Moses,  to  solve  certain 
social  problems  among  us,  which  threaten  society  with 
disruption. 

The  war  of  extermination  against  the  Canaanite  has 
been  objected  to  as  cruel  and  selfish.  Apart  from  its 
cause  and  the  object  in  view,  it  may  surely  be  so  re- 
garded, but  so  may  any  act  of  justice  seen  in  the  same 
narrow  light.  It  is  a  proverb  that  nature  is  cruel,  and 
there  are  necessities  involved  in  the  existence  of  an  evil 
and  law-breaking  race,  that  will  always  appear  cruel. 
That  children  should  share  the  fate  of  their  parents  only 
partake  of  what  is  thus  involved.    The  object  was  not 


Moral  DifficDlties  in  the  Old  Testament.  27 

simply  punishment  but  improvement.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  they  were  better  than  the  common 
stock,  or  would  have  become  better.  We  see  them  even 
among  us  with  all  the  characteristics  of  anger,  envy,  hate 
and  cruelty,  strongly  developed  and  actively  exhibited. 
One  might  as  easy  make  out  that  it  is  cruel  to  allow  a 
wicked  and  depraved  race  to  continue  to  exist,  as  it 
would  be  to  blot  them  out  of  existence  altogether. 

Leaving  alone  for  the  present  God's  share  in  that 
transaction  we  may  remark  that  the  war  was  in  keeping 
witlf  the  times  and  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  nations. 
The  Israelites  did  as  they  expected  to  be  done  by  in  ♦ 
turn  if  they  should  become  the  weaker  party,  and  as  they 
actually  were  done  by,  for  they  were  in  their  turn  dis 
possessed  or  exterminated  more  effectually  than  the 
Canaanites.  And  it  is  tolera'  ly  certain  that  the  Canaan- 
ites  had  got  possession  in  the  same  way,  that  is  by  kill- 
ing or  driving  away  those  that  were  there  before  them, 
As  far  as  justice  is  concerned  there  is  little  to  be  said  in 
general,  and  probably  nobody  thought  of  finding  fault 
on  that  score,  though  of  course  each  in  turn  was  sorry 
to  be  the  weaker  party. 

But  it  is  understood  that  this  was  not  a  mere  human 
transaction.  Moses  and  the  Israelites  had  a  divine  com- 
mission to  go  and  destroy  the  Canaanites  because  they 
had  become  too  wicked  to  be  tolerated.  Probably  the 
Almighty  has  a  right  to  pronounce  sentence  of  death  as 
much  as  a  human  court  of  justice,  and  surely  he  must  be 
as  able  to  judge  of  the  desert.  The  crimes  of  the  Ca- 
naanites are  explained  as  faras  language  will  tolerate  their 
description,  and  the  Israelites  were  warned  that  unless 
they  did  better,  they  would  fare  no  better.  The  ex- 
hortations, warnings  and  instructions  to  the  Israelites 


2S  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

and  this  occasion  as  we  have  it  in  the  books  of  Moses  can 
only  be  accounted  for  on  the  presumption  that  God  was 
the  moving  and  controUing  cause,  how  different  from  the 
vain-glorious,  proud,  presumptuous  exhibition  of  national 
vanity  common  in  such  cases,  even  down  to  our  day; 
God  explained  to  them  that  he  meant  no  favoritism  and 
their  subsequent  history  proved  it.  Some  may  find 
fault  with  the  Almighty  for  this  work  and  for  giving  the 
Israelites  the  commission  of  performing  it,  but  he  has 
taken  upon  himself  the  responsibility,  as  it  is  repeatedly 
avowed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  will  no  doubt  answer  for 
%  it.  And  according  to  the  Bible  this  is  by  no  means  the 
only  war  God  will  answer  for  in  the  same  sense,  not  as 
the  primary  cause,  for  that  is  the  wickedness  of  men, 
but  as  the  overruling  cause.  To  his  judgment  is  as- 
cribed not  only  war,  but  pestilence,  famine  and  other 
evils;  and  indeed,  so  it  is  very  generally  looked  upon, 
even  nowadays.  Take  the  words  of  the  immortal  Lin- 
coln, **  If  God  will  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth 
piled  by  the  bondsmen's  two  hundreil  and  fifty  years  of 
unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 
blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn 
with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so 
still  it  must  be  said,  that  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are 
true  and  righteous  altogether." 

A  word  should  be  said  about  the  imprecatory  Psalms 
in  dealing  with  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  but  it  will  be 
needful  to  say  but  little  after  what  has  been  said  in  the 
foregoing.  These  Psalms  are  not  in 'harmony  with  some 
of  the  sentiment  of  this  age,  but  they  are  in  harmony 
with  the  sentiment  of  the  Bible  throughout,  for  God  is 
everywhere  set  before  us  "  a  God  of  judgment."  The 
inspired  utterance  of  these  Psalms  are  not  to  be  taken  as 


Moral  Difficulties  in  the  Old  Testament.  29 
the  expression  of  personal  and  selfish  hate  and  vindic- 
tiveness.  It  is  the  indignation  of  God's  spirit,  and  the 
curses  of  God  against  the  enemies  of  righteousness. 
They  are  to  be  compared  with  the  woes.of  Christ  against 
the  unrighteous,  and  his  curses  upon  the  wicked  at  the 
day  of  judgment. 

That  curses  and  maledictions  against  the  wicked  and 
their  wickedness  should  be  inconsistent  with  truth  and 
righteousness,  can  only  be  maintained  on  the  ground  that 
there  are  really  no  such  things  as  wickedness  or  wicked 
persons.  The  supposition  in  this  case  would  be,  that 
what  is  called  by  these  hard  names  is  really  nothing  but 
abberations  of  mind  and  heart  that  a  little  patience  and 
forbearance  will  cure.  But  the  Bible  does  not  take  so 
favorable  a  view  of  the  case;  it  considers  the  wickedness 
of  men  very  willful  and  deeply  rooted,  and  the  wicked 
powerful  enough  in  their  wickedness  to  resist  even  di- 
vine love  and  goodness  and  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be 
done,  go  on  making  devils  of  themselves,  and  worthy  of 
nothing  but  curses. 

But  it  is  suggested  that  the  curses  should  be  directed 
against  wickedness  rather  than  against  the  wicked  be- 
cause Christ,  it  is  said,  loves  sinners,  although  he  hates 
their  sins.  But  the  distinction  here  is  carried  too  far, 
there  is  no  sin  apart  from  the  sinner.  Sin  is  only  sin 
because  it  is  the  voluntary  acts  of  responsible  beings. 
What  we  hate  is  the  wicked  will  that  is  behind  the  acts. 
The  same  acts  by  irresponsible  persons,  or  by  animals, 
would  arouse  in  us  no  moral  indignation.  Therefore  as 
far  as  we  hate  sin  we  blame  the  sinner.  The  God  both 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  loves  sinners,  and  calls 
upon  them  "Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die."  But 
when  the  possibilities  of  good^  the  hope  of  repentance  is 


30  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

gone,  there  is  no  longer  any  love  for  the  sinner.  Christ 
does  not  pretend  to  love  sinners  in  the  last  day,  when  he 
shall  say  to  them,  "  Depart  from  me  ye  cursed." 

As  a  summary  of  the  morality  of  the  Israelites  as 
set  before  us  in  the  Old  Testament,  it  is  clearly  seen 
that  they  held  as  firmly  as  we,  all  the  principles  of  right- 
eousness and  morality,  and  that  the  application  of  these 
principles  in  many  instances  was  imperfect.  The  perfect 
application  of  these  principles  would  result  in  a  perfect 
life  and  character.  It  need  not  be  said  that  the  applica- 
tion is  still  imperfect.  Do  we  find  fault  with  the  Al- 
mighty for  bearing  with  the  weaknesses  and  imperfec- 
tions of  the  past,  we  might  as  well  find  the  same  fault 
now.  There  is  no  other  alternative;  either  God  must 
bear  with  a  fallen  race,  or  else  exterminate  them.  As 
free  moral  agents,  their  volitions  cannot  be  forced,  nor 
improvement  imposed  on  them  with  a  high  hand.  If  it 
were  otherwise,  we  should  not  hear  so  much  in  the  Bible 
about  the  patience  and  long-suffering  of  an  omnipotent 
ruler. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RELATION  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  TO  THE  NEW. 

*'  Had  ye  believed  Moses  ye  would  have  believed  me,  but  if  ye  believe 
not  his  writings  how  shall  ye  believe  my  words?"— Christ. 

The  purpose  of  the  New  Testament  is  not  to  teach 
a  new  religion  that  was  not  taught  in  the  Old,  neither  is 
it  an  amendment  to  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament 
but  rather  the  complement  of  it.  The  object  is  above 
all  to  establish  the  fact,  that  the  incarnate  Son  of  God, 
the  promised  Messias,  the  Revealer  of  the  Father  had 
actually  appeared  in  the  world  and  that  the  redemption 
promised  by  God  from  the  beginning  had  been  accom- 
plished. The  main  purpose  in  the  life  of  Christ  was  to 
establish  his  claim  as  the  Messias;  to  this  end  he  wrought 
miracles  "  if  he  had  not  done  the  works  which  no  one 
else  had  done — they — the  Jews — would  not  have  sinned 
in  rejecting  him."  He  warns  the  people  from  the  very 
beginning  of  his  ministry  that  "  He  had  not  come  to  de- 
stroy the  law  or  the  prophets — no — not  a  jot  or  tittle. "  If 
^uch  thoughts  had  entered  their  minds  because  he  taught 
as  one  having  authority,  he  tells  them  that  they  are  mis- 
taken. He  used  his  authority  to  expound  the  law,  not 
to  controvert  it.  To  accomplish  the  will  of  the  Father 
as  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world,  this  was  his  supreme  office,  that  the  Son  of 
God  should  indeed,  while  on  earth,  occupy  his  time  in 


32  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

expounding  the  law  and  the  prophets  is  what  we  might 
expect,  and  there  was  need  of  it.  The  state  of  the  Jew- 
ish church  was  very  much  Hke  that  of  the  Christian  be- 
fore the  Reformation.  The  scribes  had  made  vain  the 
commandments  of  God  because  of  their  tradition,  as  the 
popes  and  priests  had  at  the  time  of  Luther.  There 
was  as  much  need  of  a  reformer.  But  as  Luther  did  not 
invent  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  or  as  Wesley 
in  his  time  did  not  plan  the  doctrines  of  regeneration 
and  sanctification,  but  established  them  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible,  and  renewed  their  claims  upon  the 
consciences  of  men;  so  Christ  in  his  cftys  did  not  origi- 
nate the  commandments  of  love  to  God  and  man,  for 
they  are  both  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures; 
Christ  showed  their  importance  as  a  summary  of  all  our 
duties  towards  God  and  men. 

The  relation  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New  is  not 
the  contrast  of  law  founded  on  justice,  set  over  against  a 
gospel  founded  on  mercy.  The  Old  Testament  is  not 
the  revelation  of  a  God  of  righteousness  particularly, 
and  the  New  that  of  a  God  of  love  especially.  Love  and 
righteousness,  justice  and  mercy  are  equally  prominent 
in  their  due  proportion  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments. The  New  Testament  is  a  continuation  of  the  un- 
folding of  God's  law  and  character  as  begun  in  the  Old,  a 
systematic  unfolding  along  all  the  lines  of  law  and  charac- 
ter. Yet  it  is  a  favorite  idea  that  the  Old  Testament 
reveals  God  in  a  different  light  from  the  New.  Do  we 
ask  if  God  changed  between  the  time  of  Moses  and  • 
Christ,  the  answer  would  not  be  an  open  denial  of  the 
passage  that  God  is  "  without  variableness  or  shadow  of 
turning,"  "to-day,  yesterday  and  forever  the  same." 
Yet  popular  notions  in  conformity  with  popular  teaching 


Relation  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New.  33 

represent  the  idea,  that  if  God  has  not  actually  changed 
since  the  time  of  the  Old  Testament,  he  has  yet  wonder- 
fully improved  in  the  way  of  leniency  and  forbearance. 
But  denying  the  possibility  of  any  improvement  in  the 
Eternally  Perfect  it  is  yet  left  to  account  for  the  popular 
notion.  It  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  sterner 
side  of  the  New  Testament  is  generally  ignored,  and  the 
other  side  exclusively  insisted  upon.  There  is  in  the 
New  Testament  increased  light  on  God's  character  in  all 
its  attributes,  not  only  those  of  love  and  mercy  but  those 
of  justice  and  holiness  as  well.  The  life  and  death  of  Christ 
does  not  illustrate  the  love  of  God  more  fully  than  it 
does  his  justice.  God  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  be- 
cause he  loved  the  world  well  enough  to  do  it,  but  he 
required  so  great  a  sacrifice  to  atone  for  the  sin  that  had 
outraged  justice,  that  he  might  establish  a  true  basis  for 
pardon  and  justification.  The  death  of  Christ  is  every- 
where represented  as  the  strict  fulfillment  of  the  Old 
Testament  type  in  "  sacrifices  to  atone  for  sin;"  it  does 
not  therefore  bring  in  any  new  principle  of  love  and  for- 
giveness, but  is  the  enforcement  of  the  Old  which  had 
ruled  from  the  beginning. 

God  represents  himself  as  a  father  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  well  as  in  the  New.  "  Art  not  thou  our  father?" 
"As  a  father  pitied  his  children."  The  popular  idea 
about  the  "  fatherhood  of  God  and  brotherhood  of  men" 
is  not  strictly  Scriptural.  God  represents  himself  as 
having  a  father's  heart  and  feeling  toward  all,  but  only 
those  are  said  to  be  his  children  who  are  "  born  again" 
by  his  spirit.  And  only  those  that  are  thus  born  con- 
stitute in  the  true  sense  a  brotherhood,  although  they 
may  have  a  brother's  feeling  toward  others,  and  try  to 
win  them.    Christ  repudiates  the  right  of  those  that  are 


34  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

not  his  followers  to  call  God  their  father.  He  says  "  the 
father  ye  are  of  is  the  devil."  Otherwise  they  are  called 
the  children  of  this  world.  They  must  first  be  born  into 
God's  family  before  they  are  his  children. 

As  for  the  revelation  of  God's  loving  kindness  and 
tenderness,  there  are  as  noble  passages  in  the  Old  as  in 
the  New  Testament.  The  twenty-third  Psalm  may  be 
placed  beside  the  tenth  chapter  of  John,  and  compari- 
sons equally  favorable  may  be  found  throughout  both 
parts.  As  for  judgment  and  cursing,  the  scene  of  the 
last  judgment  as  pictured  by  Christ,  tc^pether  with  many 
passages  by  Christ  or  John,  surpasses  in  terrible  im- 
pressiveness  anything  in  the  Old  Testament.  If  God's 
language  to  man  is  harsh  in  any  age  or  toward  any  peo- 
ple, it  is  because  there  is  peculiar  occasion.  We  cannot 
use  tenderness,  and  pronounce  blessings,  unless  circum- 
stances justify  it,  unless  there  is  occasion  for  it.  "  Be- 
hold, therefore,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God" 
equally  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 

The  conditions  of  salvation  we're  the  same  in  the 
Old  Testament  time  as  now.  As  God  is  the  same  and 
our  relation  to  him  the  same,  so  it  is  impossible  that 
there  should  be  any  distinction.  God  has  no  preferences 
and  can  be  no  respecter  of  persons.  If  God  shows  a 
preference  like  that  of  the  selection  of  Israel  to  be  his 
peculiar  people,  it  is  because  the  whole  world  is  best 
served  by  such  arrangement,  even  as  the  promise  to 
Abraham  was  that  "  in  his  seed  should  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  be  blessed."  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  the  old 
world  was  saved  by  faith  as  much  as  the  new,  it  was  a 
faith  that  showed  itself  by  "  works"  and  no  other  faith 
saves  now.  The  need  of  an  atonement  for  sin  was 
taught  in  the  Old  Testament;  sacrifices  were  part  of  the 


Relation  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New.  35 

system,  and  were  only  abolished  as  their  types  and 
prophesies  were  fulfilled  in  Christ. 

As  God  and  our  relation  to  him  is  the  same  in  all 
ages,  so  the  operation  of  his  spirit  is  the  same.  It  is  no 
more  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  now  than  before 
Christ.  The  mercy  and  grace  of  God  have  always  been 
dispensed  whenever  there  have  been  hearts  open  to  re- 
ceive. It  may  appear  in  the  words  of  Christ,  that  while 
he  walked  on  earth  the  spirit  was  concentered  upon 
him,  and  that  this  implied  a  limitation  for  the  time  jDeing; 
but  the  reference  is  plainly  to  conditions,  and  the  limita- 
tion, as  always,  ftat  imposed  by  sin  and  unbelief.  The 
spirit  of  God  was  "  striving"  with  the  early  antedeluvians. 
Throughout  the  Old  Testament  we  find  the  operation  of 
God's  spirit  suggested  in  various  ways,  both  in  the  con- 
version of  men,  and  in  the  bestowal  of  gifts,  even  the 
very  highest,  as  the  gift  of  prophecy  and  that  of  infallible 
inspiration  in  recording  the  revelation  of  God's  will. 
And  the  results  produced  were  as  grand  and  significant 
in  respect  to  character  and  spiritual^ life  as  nowadays. 
We  can  find  no  better  words  in  which  to  express  our 
spiritual  experience  than  those  of  David  and  other  Old 
Testament  saints.  And  they  realized  their  utter  de- 
pendence upon  the  spirit  of  God  in  the  work  of  con- 
verting and  sanctifying:  "Create  in  me  a  clean  heart, 
O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me.  Cast  me 
not  away  from  thy  presence  and  take  not  thy  Holy 
Spirit  from  me.  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salva- 
tion and  uphold  me  with  thy  free  spirit."  Christ  prom- 
ised a  special  outpouring  of  God's  spirit  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost;  there  have  been  special  outpourings  both  be- 
fore that  time  and  since,  and  even  now  we  pray  for  a 
fresh  outpouring  of  God's  spirit.    Nor  was  the  Old  Tes- 


36  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

tament  church  lacking  in  that  aggressive  zeal  which 
characterized  the  Christian  church.  Provision  was 
made  in  their  system  for  proselytes  of  other  nations. 
The  Jewish  missionary  work  among  the  Gentiles  in  the 
centuries  preceding  Christ,  was  as  successful  as  any  sim- 
ilar work  has  been.  The  Jews  had  their  synagogues 
in  the  towns  anti  cities  of  every  nation,  and  had  made 
multitudes  of  converts.  Here  was  the  ground  for  the 
rapid  spread  of  Christianity.  Christian  missionary  work 
generally  started  from  the  synagogue,  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful among  the  Gentile  proselytes  So  it  may  be 
said  in  more  than  one  sense,  that  th^  Jews  paved  the 
way  for  the  progress  of  Christianity. 

Some  of  the  superficial  teaching  of  this  arid  former 
times  have  produced  the  impression  on  the  minds  of 
many,  that  the  Old  Testament  religion  was  "  formalism." 
It  was  perverted  to  formalism,  but  not  more  so  than 
Christianity  in  this  and  other  ages.  The  Jews  like  the 
Christians  were  very  apt  to  retain  the  form  and  ignore 
the  spirit  of  their  religion.  When  Christ  came,  he 
taught  them  that  the  law  and  commandments  must  be 
applied  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  as  well 
as  to  outward  performance.  In  some  respects  he  taught 
that  the  law  of  civil  duties  prescribed  by  Moses  should 
not  suffice  for  his  disciples.  As,  for  instance,  civil  au- 
thorities might  use  an  oath  for  confirmation  if  additional 
guarantee  of  truthfulness  was  thereby  secured,  but  among 
his  followers  it  should  be  taken  for  granted,  that  the 
standard  of  truthfulness  was  so  high  that  swearing  to  the 
truthfulness  of  one's  words  should  be  out  of  question. 
In  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  the  future  separation  of 
church  and  state  is  taken  for  granted,  and  we  have  to 
bear  in  mind  that  it  was  spoken  expressly  "  to  his  disci- 


Relation  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New.  37 
pies."  The  church  and  state  was  not  now  to  be  identical 
as  hitherto  in  the  Jewish  nation.  Henceforth,  the 
church  need  to  have  to  do  with  none  but  such  as  volun- 
tarily take  upon  themselves  the  obligation.  Therefore, 
the  standard  could  be  heightened  and  the  requirements 
strengthened.  "  Ye  have  heard  it  hath  been  said,  an 
eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  but  I  say  unto 
you," — he  does  not  say  that  this  is  not  good  as  a  principle 
of  even  justice,  punishment  in  proportion  to  the  guilt,  he 
does  not  find  fault  with  it  properly  applied,  but  he 
teaches  his  disciples,  his  church,  that  they  must  go  far- 
ther than  the  m%e  doing  of  justice,.  They  must  "love 
mercy  and  walk  humbly  with  their  God."  They  must 
try  to  win  the  erring,  reconcile  an  enemy  and  raise  the 
fallen.  The  Old  Testament  is  not  indeed  lacking  in  ex- 
hortations to  this  effect,  even  to  the  extent  of  doing 
good  to  an  enemy,  but  this  side  of  religion  was  appar- 
ently little  cultivated  at  the  time  of  Christ.  A  full  and 
equable  development  of  character  is  rare  now  as  then. 
Christ  emphasized  every  side  of  the  religious  life  and 
strengthened  the  requirements.  In  applying  law  and 
judgment  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  and 
in  pronouncing  punishment  upon  sins  of  omission,  he 
strengthened  the  principle  of  justice  as  much  as  that  of 
love.  All  that  was  implied  in  the  law  was  applied  by 
Christ,  not  as  a  new  discovery,for  the  prophets  had  done 
so  before,  but  with  a  new  emphasis.  He  brought  a 
stronger  light  to  bear  upon  every  subject,  but  the*  sub- 
ject, itself,  was  not  new.  "  The  new  commandment" 
was  yet  "the  old  which  they  had  from  the  beginning." 
How  justice  may  be  blended  with  mercy,  and  love,  pa- 
tience and  forbearance  be  made  to  promote  righteous- 
ness rather  than  the  contrary,  is  not  a  matter  of  cast-iron 


38  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

rules,  but  of  careful  consideration  and  application  of 
thought  to  each  particular  case.  God  demands  a  sanc- 
tified and  alert  intelligence  as  well  as  correct  conduct. 

The  difference  between  the  law  of  duty  or  com- 
mandments and  the  law  of  love  as  pointed  out  by  Christ, 
is  further  explained  by  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistles.  Here 
again  it  is  often  supposed  that  a  contradiction  is  meant 
when  only  an  explanation  is  intended.  St.  Paul  uses 
such  expressions  as  "  being  free  from  the  law,"  "  not  un- 
der the  law,"  etc.;  this,  it  is  believed,  implies  antago- 
nism between  the  law  and  the  gospel.  Paul  foresees  that 
this  misunderstanding  may  arise,  for  111  corrects  it  by 
saying;  "  Do  we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith? 
God  forbid;  yea,  we  establish  the  law."  This  he  does 
by  teaching  how  the  principle  of  law  must  become  part 
of  our  own  heart  and  soul,  so  that  we  shall  no  longer 
need  to  be  reminded  by  the  written  commandment. 
When  the  spirit  of  the  law  is  our  spirit  then  we  shall  not 
need  the  letter.  If  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  us,  as 
taught  by  Christ,  then  we  shall  not  need  the  rule  of  out- 
ward restraint.  We  know  that  this  must  come  to  pass 
before  heaven  can  be  realized.  A  heaven  that  would 
stand  in  need  of  the  ten  commandments  and  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  could  not  be  much  of  a  heaven.  Law  is 
a  reflection  on  those  for  whom  it  is  written,  for  it  pre- 
supposes a  disposition  to  transgress.  This  disposition 
must  be  subdued,  so  that  we  are  not  only  free  from  the 
condemnation  of  the  law,  this  indeed  is  implied,  but  free 
from  the  restraint  of  the  law  because  in  perfect  accord 
with  it.  This  is  what  St.  Paul  urges  us  on  to,  for  the 
accord  is  not  at  once  perfect,  even  in  true  Christians, 
except  as  to  the  will.  Imperfections  in  our  moral  na- 
ture and  our  judgment  will  involve  us  in  temptations, 


Relation  of  the  Old  Testament  To  the  New.  39 

and  make  necessary  the  law  with  its  instructions,  ex- 
hortations and  warnings.  But  the  principle  of  sympathy 
and  natural  accord  must  be  in  the  heart  of  every  Chris- 
tian, and  it  must  be  a  growing  principle.  The  child  who 
has  need  of  having  the  rod  always  suspended  over  him, 
cannot  be  much  in  sympathy  with  the  father;  and  the 
Christian  who  constantly  needs  tl;e  "shall"  or  "shall 
not"  of  the  law,  is  not  much  of  a  Christian,  there  should 
be  the  spirit  of  sympathy  that  cried  "  Abba  Father  "  and 
delights  in  his  law.  We  should  come  into  that  perfect 
sympathy  with  the  law-giver  that  we  have  one  will  with 
him,  when  this  is*the  case  then  there  is  no  more  need  of 
him  making  his  will  law  for  us.  We  could  not  imagine 
a  case  where  one  should  feel  called  upon  to  proclaim  a 
law  to  another  if  they  are  both  in  perfect  accord.  When 
we  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  God,  then  God  has  no 
law  for  us,  we  are  a  law  unto  ourselves.  This  is  that 
perfect  liberty  of  Christ,  which  knows  no  restraint,  be- 
cause it  knows  no  disposition  to  transgress.  To  be  free 
from  the  law  is  not  therefore  to  have  a  license  through 
the  Gospel  to  disobey  it,  but  to  have  enough  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  obey  it  without  compulsion.  Such  were 
the  Old  Testament  saints  who  could  say:  "  How  love  I 
thy  law,  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day.  How  sweet 
are  thy  words  to  my«taste,  yea,  sweeter  than  honey  to 
my  mouth.  I  will  delight  myself  in  thy  statutes.  I 
have  rejoiced  in  the  way  of  thy  testimonies."  This  is 
the  true  spirit  of  the  child,  than  which  there  is  nothing 
higher.  In  the  truest  and  best  sense,  these  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  were  free  from  the  law  as  much  as  those  of 
to-day.  They  were  under  the  law  of  ordinances  and 
sacrihces  pointing  to  Christ,  references  to  this  as  a  law 
should  not  be  confounded  with  the  moral  or  general  law, 


40  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  expression  of  God's  perfect  will,  which  none  should 
wish  to  be  free  from  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  being 
in  perfect  accord  with  it. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  BIBLE. 

"  In  vain  do  they  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments 
of  men.    For  laying  aside  the  commandment  of  God,  ye  hold  the 
tradition  of  men.  *  *  *  And  he  said  unto  them,  full  well  ye 
reject  the  commandment  of  God,  that  ye  may  keep  your 
own  tradition.    *  *  *    Making  the  word  of  God  of 
none  effect  through  your  tradition." — Christ. 

Christ  was  the  orthodox  teacher  of  his  days.  The 
Pharisees  had  departed  from  the  plain  text  of  the 
Scriptures,  while  professing  to  believe  them,  they  made 
them  void  through  their  theories  of  lawless  interpreta- 
tion. They  did  not  really  love  the  Scriptures,  for  these 
did  not  favor  their  personal  or  national  pride  and  vanity; 
they  rather  loved  the  Talmud  and  apocryphal  writings. 
What  a  Jewish  Bible  would  have  been  without  inspira- 
tion may  be  gathered  from  this  Talmud,  held  in  so  high 
veneration  among  the  Jews.  On  the  side  of  Scripture 
we  find  simplicity,  grandeur  and  humility,  on  the  other 
hand  we  find  extravagance,  foolishness  and  pride,  all  to 
a  degree  of  absurdity. 

•  Christ  rebuked  them  with  bitter  irony,  saying,  full 
well  ye  reject  the  commandments  of  God  that  ye  may 
keep  your  tradition.  Throughout  his  ministry  Christ 
treated  the  Scriptures  precisely  as  an  orthodox  teacher 
of  Christianity  would  nowadays.  From  the  beginning 
he  warns  them  that  he  has  not  come  to  destroy  the  law 


42  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

and  the  prophets,  that  he  who  teaches  contrary  even  to 
the  least  of  the  commandments  shall  suffer  loss.  To  the 
Scriptures  he  refers  every  question  and  settles  every 
difficulty.  Does  someone  ask  him  what  to  do  to  be 
saved,  the  answer' is  "What  is  written —how  readest 
thou?"  He  does  not  profess  to  have  any  new  or  easier 
way  of  salvation.  Repentance  and  reformation,  with 
faith  in  sacrifices  and  an  atonement  for  sin  was  the  old 
way,  and  he  came  to  emphasize  and  perfect  this  plan. 
Some,  nowadays,  profess  great  love  and  reverence  for 
Christ,  while  treating  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
with  great  irreverence,  he  utterly  rejects  their  hypocriti- 
cal advances,  and  tells  them  "  If  ye  believe  not  the  writ- 
ings of  Moses,  how  shall  ye  believe  my  words?"  Is  a 
difficult  theological  question  propounded,  as,  for  instance, 
"  Whose  son  is  Christ,"  to  the  Scriptures  alone  and  their 
authority  he  refers  it,  never  to  the  church  or  reason  or 
any  human  authority.  If  a  Scripture  statement  seem 
difficult  of  acceptance,  as,  for  instance,  the  quotation,  *'  I 
have  said  ye  are  gods."  He  does  not  allow  it  to  be 
slurred  over  or  ruled  out,  he  reminds  them  that  it  is 
Scripture  and  as  such  it  cannot  be  broken.  When  he  is 
questioned  by  the  Sadducees  in  regard  to  the  soul's  im- 
mortality, he  tells  them  that  the  cause  of  their  error  is 
that  "  they  know  not  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of 
God."  He  then  proceeds  to  establish  the  doctrine  of 
the  soul's  immortality  by  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures; 
it  is  not  generally  supposed  that  much  is  said  there  on 
this  subject,  and  he  might  in  this  case,  if  ever  have  had 
occasion  to  fall  back  on  church  authority,  philosophy  or 
his  own  personal  knowledge, but  he  evidently  considered 
a  passage  from  Scripture  of  more  weight  than  all  else, for 
by  Scripture  he  confounds  the  Sadducees  and  rebukes 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  43 

their  unbelief.  When  the  rich  man  in  hell  desired  that 
a  special  communication  or  revelation  in  regard  to  the 
future  state  should  be  sent  to  his  five  brethren,  he  is  told 
that  they  have  Moses  and  the  prophets  "  let  them  hear 
them."  The  soul  in  torment  ventures  the  assertion  that 
some  supernatural  manifestation  from  the  spirit  world 
would  be  more  convincing,  but  the  answer  is  definite, 
that  "  if  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither 
will  they  be  persuaded  though  one  rise  from  the  dead." 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  he  asserts,  are  of  more  au- 
thority than  spiritualistic  mediums  and  supernatural 
manifestations. 

Liberals  would  have  found  in  Christ  an  excellent  sub- 
ject for  the  charge  of  "  Bibleolotry"  had  he  lived  in  our 
days.  Scripture  was  his  only  weapon  both  of  defense  and 
attack.  Did  the  devil  tempt  him  with  evil  suggestions, 
with  this  he  repels  the  tempter.  The  devil  was  aware 
of  Christ's  regard  for  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  final  authority  in  all  matters  of  dispute.  He 
takes  advantage  of  this  knowledge  and  quotes  Scripture 
to  prove  the  innocent  nature  of  his  insinuations. 
Christ  lets  him  know  he  is  right  regarding  the  authority 
of  the  Scriptures,  he  himself  knows  nothing  higher,  and 
by  another  "it  is  written"  he  confounds  the  sophistry  of 
the  wicked  one.  If  Christ  had  been  willing  to  allow  that 
the  law  of  Moses  contains  errors,  he  had  occasion  to  say 
so,  for  Jews  and  disciples  alike  suggested  the  idea,  and 
pressed  the  question  upon  him;  as,  for  instance,  when 
they  reminded  him  that  Moses  permitted  divorces  for 
other  causes  than  adultery.  Christ  does  not  allow  that 
it  was  an  error  of  Moses,  he  tells  them  there  was  a  rea- 
son for  it,  although  from  the  beginning  it  was  not  so, 
neither  should  it  be  so  any  longer  among  his  disciples. 


44  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

Christ  allowed  that  the  Scriptures  could  be  misconstrued 
and  misunderstood,  but  never  that  they  could  be  broken. 
After  his  resurrection,  the  Scriptures  are  still  the  reve- 
lation from  God  by  which  he  enlightens  his  disciples. 
Beginning  with  Moses  he  goes  through  the  books  show- 
ing how  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer  and  rise  from  the 
dead. 

The  ingenious  ways  in  which  our  liberalists  get 
round  the  authority  of  the  Bible  by  fanciful  distinctions 
between  the  spirit  and  the  letter,  the  human  element  and 
the  divine,  etc.,  is  entirely  foreign  to  Christ.  He  insists 
emphatically  upon  the  letter,  even  down  to  the  jot  and 
tittle,  and  he  insists  equally  upon  an  unselfish  and  un- 
prejudiced interpretation  of  the  letter,  that  will  not  ex- 
plain away  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  book.  This  is 
precisely  what  the  liberalists  are  doing,  but  it  can  only 
be  done  to  the  extent  they  wish  to  do  it,  by  repudiating 
the  language  or  plain  text  of  the  Bible.  For  after  all, 
the  spirit,  the  intent  or  meaning  of  a  book  can  only  be 
known  by  the  letter  or  language  used,  aside  from  it  there 
is  no  spirit,  intent  or  meaning.  Their  only  purpose  in 
destroying  faith  in  the  letter  or  text  of  the  Bible,  is  to 
get  rid  of  its  meaning  or  the  spirit  of  it. 

That  Christ's  regard  for  the  Scriptures  was  not  a 
matter  of  accommodation  to  his  age  is  fully  evinced  by 
the  nature  of  his  quotations  and  their  frequency  as  well 
as  by  his  character,  which  was  incapable  of  any  duplicity 
and  never  failed  to  rebuke  sin  or  error  where  he  found 
it.  But  it  is  more  fully  demonstrated  by  the  fact,  that 
his  regard  for  the  Scriptures  was  above  that 
of  his  age,  above  that  of  the  most  conserva- 
tive believers  of  his  times.  It  was  an  intense 
conviction  of  his  own,  that  found  expression  in  fierce 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  45 

denunciations  against  those  who,  while  they  nominally 
admitted  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  yet  found  means 
to  set  it  aside  when  it  conflicted  with  their  theories  and 
speculations,  their  pride  and  love  of  vain-glory.  It  was 
perhaps  the  only  instance  in  which  Christ  gave  expression 
to  the  bitter  irony  of  a  soul  that  is  woimded  at  its  deep- 
est, when  he  rebuked  the  Pharisees  for  their  duplicity 
and  fraud  in  dealing  with  the  Scriptures,  saying,  "  full 
well  ye  reject  the  commandment  of  God  that  ye  may 
keep  your  tradition,  making  the  Word  of  God 
of  none  effect."  The  same  holy  zeal  for  the  Word 
of  God  and  everything  that  is  enjoined  in  it  found  ex- 
pression in  his  cleansing  of  the  temple.  '*It  is  written 
my  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  but  ye  have 
made  it  a  den  of  thieves."  And  the  disciples  remem- 
bered that  it  is  written,  "  the  zeal  of  thine  house  hath 
consumed  me."  Again  after  his  resurrection  we  find 
this  indignation  breaking  forth  against  his  disciples,  be- 
cause of  their  doubt  and  hesitancy  in  accepting  and  be- 
lieving all  the  Scriptures.  "  O  fools  and  slow  of  heart  to 
believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken."  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  of  the  apostles  who  succeeded  Christ  in  his 
divine  work,  that  their  regard  for  the  Scriptures  and  their 
authority  was  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  Christ.  "  But 
what  saith  the  Scriptures  "  is  the  final  appeal  of  St.  Paul 
in  questions  of  controversy.  It  was  to  them,  the  God- 
breathed  Word  of  God  and  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit." 

The  testimony  of  Christ  to  the  authority  of  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  has  a  bearing  upon  those  of  the 
New  Testament  which  is  not  to  be  overlooked.  We 
cannot  accept  some  of  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  reject 
other,  without  repudiating  his  claims  as  the  Messiah  sent 
from  God,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father.    We  cannot 


46  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

accept  the  teaching  of  Christ  as  the  Truth  of  God  with- 
out accepting  all  that  is  involved  in  it.  In  the  general 
claim  of  Christ  and  his  teaching,  it  is  involved  that  the 
record  of  it  must  have  been  kept  free  from  the  contami- 
nation of  error.  The  general  claim  of  Christ  and  his 
teaching  is  that  a  divine  overruling  providence  was  con- 
nected with  his  appearance  in  this  world,  his  mission,  his 
words  and  work;  but  it  could  not  have  been  thus  con- 
nected without  being  extended  to  the  preservation  of 
his  teaching  and  doctrine  free  from  error.  This  teach- 
ing and  work  was  meant  for  all  generations  and  for  all 
ages;  it  must  therefore  have  been  kept  in  its  purity  for  those 
generations  and  ages,  if  onmipotent  power  and  wisdom 
was  indeed  connected  with  it  from  the  beginning.  We 
cannot,  therefore,  accept  Christ  in  the  sense  he  claims 
acceptance,  without  accepting  the  aforesaid  which  is  in- 
volved in  it. 

Christ,  explicitly  and  definitely,  gave  his  testimony 
to  the  record  of  God's  revelation  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  affirmed  often  and  emphatically  that  it  was  inti- 
mately and  indissolubly  connected  with  his  own  revela- 
tion, so  much  so  that  both  were  but  a  connected  whole. 
He  found  no  fault  with  the  books  admitted  to  the  Old 
Testament  canon,  nor  with  the  contents  of  any  of  them, 
he  accepted  them  fully  and  wholly  without  excepting, 
"  one  jot  or  tittle."  What  one  would  expect  that  an  over- 
ruling Providence  would  be  concerned  with  the  preser- 
vation of  an  all-important  revelation  from  God  to  man  he 
fully  meets  and  endorses.  The  testimony  of  Christ  to 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  as  a  true  record  of 
God's  revelation  through  the  fathers  and  prophets,  must 
be  extended  to  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  they  are 
according  to  Christ,  and  the  claims  of  all,  a  connected 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  47 

whole,  and  the  providence  of  God  must  have  been 
equally  concerned  with  the  preservation  of  both,  free 
from  errors  that  would  impair  their  value. 

If  we  reject  this,  we  must  reject  the  claims  and 
teaching  of  Christ  in  general,  and  take  our  stand  on  the 
ground  occupied  by  Unitarians,  on  this  ground  there  is 
room  for  accommodations  of  all  sorts.  But  on  the  ground 
occupied  by  believers  in  Christ's  divinity,  we  are  shut 
up  to  faith  in  almighty  power  and  wisdom  connected 
with  what  Christ  did  and  said,  as  well  as  the  correct  and 
infallible  record  of  what  he  did  and  said.  The  first 
would  have  had  no  value  without  the  latter,  and  the 
latter  could  not  have  failed,  consistent  with  divine  power 
and  wisdom. 

The  Christian,  therefore,  who  accepts  Christ  as  he  is 
set  before  us  in  the  New  Testament  must  assume  that  the 
record  of  his  works  and  teaching  has  been  preserved  to 
us  free  from  error.  What  would  overthrow  this  assump- 
tion, would  overthrow  faith  in  the  Christ  of  the  New 
Testament.  —  Idealized  conceptions  and  counterfeits 
would  survive,  but  with  these  we  are  not  concerned. 
The  question  then  is  whethei%there  is  sufficient  evidence 
to  overthrow  this  assumption  of  the  believer.  Here  is 
where  the  work  of  the  critics  come  in,  have  they,  or  can 
they  prove  that  the  record  is  faulty  and  unreliable  and 
the  assumption  of  the  Christian  false. — Our  aim  is  not  to 
"  prove  Christianity  "  but  to  show  in  some  respects  what 
it  is,  and  what  is  implied  in  an  honest  acceptance  of  it. 
As  to  the  critics  and  their  criticism,  upon  the  whole  it 
may  be  said  that  the  general  tone  and  expression  is  that 
of  professionals,  out  of  harmony  witH  the  spirit  of  the 
Bible,  playing  their  trade  and  making  the  most  of  it. 

The  authority  of  the  Bible  is  based  on  its  infallibility 


48  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

as  a  record  of  God's  revelation  to  man.  The  question  is 
not  what  amount  of  praise  maybe  bestowed  upon  Christ 
and  the  Bible;  what  are  their  excellencies,  even  their 
pjlories,  all  these  are  trivialities  and  mere  evasions  of  the 
question.  Christianity  purports  to  be  something  more 
than  a  mere  part  of  the  general  revelation  through  na- 
ture and  the  conscience.  It  claims  to  be  a  special  reve- 
lation from  God  of  the  creation  of  man,  and  his  fall  from 
a  state  of  purity;  a  plan  of  God  for  his  redemption,  in- 
cluding the  incarnation,  life  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God 
sent  into  the  world;  a  continuance  of  the  same  by  the 
operation  of  the  spirit  of  God  through  the  church  and 
the  Word  of  God;  also  the  final  destiny  of  man  and  a 
perfect  law  for  his  guidance.  It  will  not  do  to  reduce 
this  to  a  mere  system  of  ethics  or  to  anything  else  than 
what  it  is,  and  put  it  forward  as  the  "  religion  of  Christ." 
This  is  not  a  plea  for  Christianity  but  simply  for  honesty. 

The  Bible  is  the  only  record  of  this  perfect  revela- 
tion from  God,  and  it  is  involved,  as  indeed  it  is  claimed, 
both  by  Christ  and  the  Bible  itself,  that  the  record  is  as 
perfect  as  the  revelation.  Any  process  in  dealing  with 
the  Scriptures  that  allow  c4  selections  and  rejections  of 
parts  or  portions,  subjects  them  to  the  authority  of  man, 
and  is  a  denial  of  their  claims  and  the  testimony  of 
Christ  in  their  behalf.  It  is  not  a  question  of  how  much 
selected  or  rejected,  the  rejection  of  a  "jot  or  tittle,"  or 
teaching  contrary  even  to  "  the  least  of  the  command- 
ments" violates  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  just  as 
much  as  though  the  rejection  comprised  large  portions. 
Neither  do  the  motives  or  professed  faith  alter  the  case; 
the  chief  champion  of  infidelity  in  this  country  was 
answered  in  his  attack  on  the  Bible  by  certain  of  the 
liberal  school;  he  rejected  their  interference  contemptu- 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  49 

ously  by  stating,  that  "  there  was  no  quarrel  between 
them."  He  was  perfectly  right,  he  accepts  and  rejects 
as  suits  him,  and  they  do  the  same;  they  have  no  more 
right  to  find  fault  with  his  selections  and  rejections  than 
he  has  to  find  fault  with  theirs. 

The  question  is  not  whether  some  Christ  may  be 
left  us,  even,  if  the  worst  the  critics  claim  for  their  criti- 
cism be  admitted.  Christ  would  always  be  somebody,  a 
historical  person  truly.  Those  of  Unitarian  tendencies 
will  rest  content  with  this  "historic  Christ."  They  will 
argue  like  this;  do  we  not  indeed  know  tliat  Christ  as  a 
person,  sometimes  walked  this  earth,  and  if  we  have  no 
reliable  information  as  to  what  he  was  or  what  he  taught, 
may  not  this  enlightened  age  make  out  what  he  ought  to 
have  been,  and  what  he  ought  to  have  taught;  and  in 
making  it  out  for  ourselves,  may  we  not  the  more  surely 
get  a  Christ  and  a  gospel  that  will  suit  us.  This  will  do 
for  human  philosophy,  but  it  is  not  the  Christianity  of 
Christ  and  the  Bible. 

Others,  who  are  in  a  state  of  unrest,  do  not  take  it 
so  lightly.  They  hope  they  will  n.ot  have  essentially  to 
alter  their  position,  but  the^  do  not  know.  They  are 
watching  the  critics  and  are  prepared  for  an  emergency. 
They  have  assumed  the  attitude  of  retreat  and  are  wait- 
ing for  the  signal  to  fall  back.  They  hope  there  will  at 
least  be  left  them  some  truth  to  fallback  upon.  Of  this 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  even  if  they  have  to  occupy  the 
ground  of  the  unbeliever  wholly.  But  what  would  be 
left  would  not  be  Christianity.  Even  the  attitude  they 
have  assumed,  it  need  not  be  said,  is  entirely  foreign  to 
Christianity  and  the  Bible.  In  it  is  assumed  a  faith 
with  assurance,  that  brings  peace  and  rest;  that  works 
wonders  and  wins  victories. 


50  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

The  selective  process  in  dealing  with  the  Bible,  by 
which  in  some  way  or  other  it  is  subjected  to  the  thoughts 
and  sentiments  of  men,  finds  many  forms  of  expression, 
but  it  all  amounts  to  the  same  thing.  Some  have  set  up 
the  test  of  what  is  vital  compared  with  what  is  circum- 
stantial. Of  course,  according  to  this  test,  whatever 
agrees  with  one  is  very  vital,  but  what  does  not  agree 
is  quite  circumstantial  and  wholly  unimportant.  Already 
in  some  quarters,  the  principal  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
including  the  divinity  of  Christ  have  been  disposed  of  as 
none  vital.  The  Decalogue  has  been  encroached  upon  and 
some  of  the  commandments  are  evidently  not  regarded 
as  very  vital.  Perhaps  it  will  be  agreed  upon  as  vital 
that  it  is — sin  to  steal.  But  we  would  not  believe  that 
a  supernatural  revelation,  recorded  in  the  Bible,  begin- 
ning with  the  creation  and  ending  with  the  fmal  catas- 
trophe, including  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  and 
the  tragedy  of  Calvary,  was  necessary  to  teach  us  this, 
which  after  all  has  never  been  seriously  doubted.  Christ 
does  not  allow  of  the  distinction;  he  tells  us  that  even  a 
jot  or  tittle  is  vital,  and  must  stand  till  heaven  and  earth 
have  passed  away.  * 

Nor  will  it  answer  any  better  to  tell  us  that  the 
selective  process  is  not  meant  to  exclude  any  part  of 
the  Bible,  only  we  must  be  content  with  the  "  life,  love 
and  righteousness  "^f  the  book  and  insist  lightly  upon 
the  letter.  This  is  the  idealized  Bible.  It  is  but  another 
way  of  the  same  process  by  which  the  commandments  of 
God  are  made  void  because  of  the  theories  and  traditions 
of  men.  In  this  light  the  Bible  will  be  looked  upon  as 
a  series  of  ghost  stories;  the  stories  they  would  tell  us, 
amount  to  little,  but  the  impression  they  make  is  every- 
thing.   But  when  we  come  down  to  the  facts  we  find 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  51 

that  they  themselves  cannot  keep  hold  of  this  disembodied 
ghost  of  a  Bible.  For  after  all  the  Bible  is  a  record  of 
plain  facts  and  definite  doctrine,  and  when  we  have 
sifted  their  theories,  sentiments  and  opinions  we  find 
plain  opposition  to  facts  recorded  and  doctrines  taught 
in  the  Bible.  This  comes  out  even  more  distinctly 
among  lay-members  of  those  that  have  become  affected 
with  this  tendency,  they  are  less  sophistical  and  will  tell 
us  openly  of  their  non-acceptance  of  books,  portions,  or 
doctrines  of  the  Bible.  The  impression,  the  leaders,  with 
their  sophistical,  indefinite,  roundabout  talk  make  upon 
the  minds  of  laymen  is,  that  the  Bible  may  be  subjected 
to  personal  like  or  dislike,  and  this  is  what  it  amounts  to. 

The  selective  method  of  dealing  with  the  Bible  is 
destructive  of  a  well  balanced  system  of  morality.  Men 
are  sure  to  reject  what  is  disagreeable  to  them,  which 
they  stand  most  in  need  of,  and  ought  to  give  the  more 
heed  to.  Every  age  has  its  own  hobby,  it  would  be 
sure  to  reject  what  was  contrary  to  its  hobby,  and  suc- 
ceeding ages  would  know  that  it  had  rejected  what  it 
stood  particularly  in  need  of.  The  religious  and  socio- 
logical theories  that  are  characteristic  of  this  and  of 
every  age,  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  Bible  as  a  part 
or  parts  do  to  the  whole,  they  are  all  one-sided,  insisting 
on  some  particular  phase  of  thought  or  sentiment.  Our 
present  is  very  marked  as  a  hobby-riding  age,  it  needs 
the  whole.  Bible,  which,  like  a  center  of  gravitation 
keeps  the  erratic  movement  of  human  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings within  due  bounds. 

The  tendencies  of  our  times  have  made  a  broad  road 
from  orthodoxy  to  agnosticism,  and  every  section  of  the 
road  is  well  represented.  Unitarianism  can  hardly  be 
palled  a  half-way  station,  it  is  too  nebulous  in  its  charac- 


52  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

• 

ter  to  suggest  anything  stationary.  Those  who  cut  loose 
from  implicit  faith  in  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  may,  at 
first,  think  they  will  know  where  to  stop,  but  they  find 
the  ground  shifting  and  uncertain  as  problem  after  prob- 
lem arises,  demanding  to  be  met  in  the  same  critical 
spirit.  The  battle  soon  begins  to  rage  about  the  super- 
natural, miraculous  and  spiritual  elements  of  the  Bible. 
This  is  practically  the  whole  of  it.  It  cannot  be  believed 
in  intelligently  and  held  firmly  unless  there  is  something 
in  the  human  soul  that  responds  to  it,  unless  the  soul, 
itself,  has  been  stirred  by  the  forces  and  influences  of  the 
supernatural.  This  something  of  faith,  love  and  rev- 
erence, is  apt  to  grow  weak  and  feeble  as  the  critical 
spirit  asserts  itself.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  bat- 
tle is  easily  decided  in  favor  of  further  concessions.  But 
there  is,  practically  speaking,  nothing  further  to  concede, 
the  spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  Bible  and  faith  in  it,  be- 
comes one  of  bitterness  and  rancor,  infidel  flings  and 
sneers  are  freely  resorted  to.  They  exemplify  in  their 
own  experience  the  evolution  which  is  their  hobby,  they 
call  it  the  evolution  of  religion  but  the  proper  name  for 
it  is  the  evolution  of  skepticism. 

The  effect  of  this  progressive  spirit  is  well  exempli- 
fied in  the  history  of  Protestant  Germany.  Christianity 
here  was  placed  side  by  side  with  the  sciences  by  the 
authorities  who  control  the  theological  institutions 
through  the  state  church„  It  has  been  looked  upon 
equally  with  the  sciences  as  a  subject  for  original  inves- 
tigations and  discoveries,  a  premium  was  put  on  "  ad- 
vanced thought,"  innovations,  and  novelties  of  any  sort. 
This  has  stimulated  to  unceasing  efforts  to  put  forth  or- 
iginal views,  and  invent  theories  that  would  gain  the  in- 
ventor credit  for  new  discoveries.    Christianity  as  a  rev- 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  53 

elation  from  God  has  been  practically  lost  sight  of.  To 
the  critical  professors  of  theology,  Christianity  is  nothing, 
their  speculation  about  it,  is  everything.  The  effect  has 
been,  that  where  faith  is  still  retained,  it  is  not  that  of 
the  schools,  but  the  orthodox  faith  of  the  Bible.  The 
rationalistic  leaders  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  fol- 
lowing, for  those  that  become  effected  by  their  skepti- 
cism act  consistently,  and  drop  church  and  religion 
altogether.  To  the  professors  and  critics  there  is  the 
excitement  of  controversy  and  the  glamour  of  notoriety, 
but  the  poor  fellows  who  gain  nothing  of  this  sort,  who 
are  asked  to  take  the  skeleton  naked  and  bare,  to  them 
it  has  no  attraction.  How  far  the  disintegration  has  ex- 
tended may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that  although  the 
German  Lutheran  immigrants  to  this  country,  and  their 
descendants  cannot  be  less  than  several  millions,  yet 
German  Lutheran  church  members  in  this  country  num- 
ber only  so  many  hundred  thousand.  The  German 
Rationalists,  have  not  thought  it  worth  the  while  to  build 
churches  to  perpetuate  their  faith  in  this  country.  They 
have  simply  joined  the  great,  irreligious  mass  which  con- 
stitute one-half  of  our  population. 

What  has  Rationalism  done  for  this  country.  Every 
week  and  month  we  have  set  before  us  in  papers  and  peri- 
odicals, by  writers  of  rationalistic  tendencies,  what  great 
things  could  and  would  and  should  be  done,  but  what  is 
actually  accomplished  is  of  a  purely  negative  character. 
What  about,  the  old  institution  called  the  Unitarian 
church,  has  not  the  liberal  faith  had  an  opportunity  to 
show  what  it  can  do  in  this  country.  Let  us  examine 
for  a  minute  the  faith  of  Unitarianism  just  to  see  how 
the  evolution  of  skepticism  is  evolving.  Anyone  who 
knows  what  Unitarianism  was  at  its  start  will  mark  the 


54  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

difference.  We  have  before  us  a  pamphlet,  issued  by  a 
Unitarian  Publishing  House,  it  tells  us  about  their  faith. 
It  will  of  course  not  fit  everyone  in  their  church,  for 
nothing  definite  is  required  of  any  one.  But  having  the 
endorsement  of  the  general  body,  it  will  undoubtedly 
answer  for  a  general  statement.  We  find  according  to 
this  exposition,  that  Unitarians  beheve  in  a  God,  he  is 
called,  "the  soul  of  the  universe."  This  is  a  convenient 
expression  for  what  may  be  anything  or  nothing.  But  it 
is  quite  needless  to  speculate  as  to  the  nature  of  this 
God,  for  we  are  told  immediately  by  the  author,  that  he 
is  nothing  to  us  nor  we  to  him,  we  sustain  no  relation  to 
him  whatever.  Our  actions  have  no  reference  to  him; 
we  do  not  sin  against  him,  and  he  does  not  reward  or 
punish  us.  We  sin  against  ourselves  and  our  neighbors, 
and  take  the  consequences.  There  is  no  divine  provi- 
dence, but  only  natural  law.  Prayer  may  be  permitted 
as  an  accommodation  to  the  weak,  if  they  think,  it  does 
them  any  good.  The  author  expresses  a  preference  for 
the  Old  Testament  rather  than  the  New;  we  mention  this 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  think  the  Old  Testament 
must  first  be  left  behind  in  the  evolution  of  skepticism, 
otherwise,  the  less  mention  of  Christ  or  the  Bible  in 
connection  with  their  faith,  the  better.  There  is  neither 
heaven  nor  hell,  if  there  is  a  future  world, — and  the  "  if" 
is  a  big  one — it  is  a  mere  continuance  of  the  present  kind 
of  life.  The  idea  of  a  future  world  is  entertained  as  a 
hypothesis  rather  than  a  fact  that  ought  seriously  to  ef- 
fect us.  As  a  future  world  or  life  fade  and  grow  exceed- 
ingly dim,  the  present  takes  on  great  dimensions.  There 
will  be  evolution  everywhere  and  in  everything.  The 
book  closes  with  an  apocalyptic  vision  of  a  terrestrial 
heaven,  from  which  unfortunately  we  are  debarred,  for 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  55 

it  is  a  matter  of  evolution  and  time.  When  it  does  come 
there  will  be  happiness  enough  to  "  go  round,"  and  peo- 
ple will  have  two  hundred  years  in  which  to  enjoy  it. 

If  breadth  and  liberality  is  what  we  want  for  success, 
Unitarianism  ought  to  have  succeeded.  Near^  half  of 
our  population  is  in  a  condition  that  would  make  them 
eligible  for  membership,  they  have  sufficient  faith  and 
respectability  to  join,  and  the*  door  we  presume  is  open 
for  them,  but  they  do  not  care  even  to  take  the  trouble 
of  stepping  in,  not  to  any  great  extent.  There  are  two 
conditions  demanded  of  a  church  or  religion  for  success 
among  the  masses  of  rich  or  poor;  one  is  an  all-important 
salvation  to  be  secured,  and  an  easy  way  of  securing  it. 
Ritualistic  churches  throughout  the  world  fulfill  both  of 
these  conditions,  and  the  mass  of  mankind  belong  to  them, 
The  Unitarians  fulfill  the  last  of  the  conditions,  the  way 
of  salvation  is  easy  enough,  but  unfortunately,  they  make 
it  doubtful  whether  there  is  anything  either  to  be  saved 
or  lost,  and  mankind  at  large  will  not  get  up  an  enthusi- 
asm where  nothing  particularly  is  involved.  To  Uni- 
tarians, religion  is  something  to  speculate  about,  rather 
than  a  thing  of  certainty  and  much  concern.  These 
speculations  may  lend  a  little  color  and  interest  to  their 
social  gatherings,  whether  they  go  by  the  name  of  wor- 
ship or  otherwise,  but  the  mass  of  mankind  is  not  much 
concerned  about  speculations.  The  activity  of  Uni- 
tarians does  a  great  deal  to  break  down  faith  among  the 
masses,  but  they  are  not  the  gainers  by  it.  But  few 
members  are  added  to  their  church  by  persuasion,  their 
principal  gains  are  from  orthodox  churches,  and  is 
brought  about  by  the  evolution  of  skepticism.  Now 
and  then  a  Congregational  minister  will  "  come  over " 
and  bring  his  entire  congregation  along  with  him.     It  is 


56  Christianitv  and  Our  Times. 

the  natural  landing  place  for  those  that  are  drifting. 

It  is  said  that  our  age  has  got  beyond  the  old  the- 
ology and  requires  something  new,  or  something  else. 
But  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  this  is  a  characteristic 
of  our  ajjfe  alone.  Every  age  since  sin  entered  the  world 
has  asked  for  something  else.  God  s  plan  of  salvation 
as  revealed  in  the  Bible  has  never  suited  the  carnal  mind. 
In  the  days  of  the  apostles,  the  theology  of  the  Bible 
was  "  foolishness  to  the  Greeks,  and  to  the  Jews  a  stum- 
bling-block." The  Greeks  sought  wisdom  and  imagined 
themselves  "  wise  above  what  was  written."  If  we  were 
to  wait  till  the  world,  the  carnal  mind  in  any  age,  comes 
into  sympathy  with  the  theology  of  the  Bible,  then  this 
might  indeed  as  well  be  laid  aside,  for  that  time  has 
never  been  and  will  never  come.  But  Christ  does  not 
ask  us  to  inquire  what  suits  the  age  or  the  world,  and 
make  our  theology  and  preaching  to  harmonize  with  it; 
he  has  determined  for  us  what  is  truth  and  theology,  and 
asks  the  world  to  accept  it  or  take  the  consequences. 
Those  who  do  accept  it,  "  to  them  it  is  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation"  as  much  as  ever;  to  those  who  do  not,  it 
is  foolishness  and  a  stumbling-block  as  in  the  days  of  St. 
Paul. 

It  is  one  thing  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  human 
nature,  or  the  sentiments  of  an  age,  and  gain  adherents 
by  so  doing,  it  is  another  thing  to  produce  spiritual  life 
and  spiritual  results.  This  was  never  done  except  by  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  Spirit  of  God.  Along  through  the 
ages  down  to  ours,  we  find  the  great  religious  revivals 
and  moral  reformations  associated  with  unquestioned 
faith  in  the  Scriptures,  and  reliance  upon  the  power  of 
God's  spirit.  Through  the  long  night  of  the  middle  ages 
wherever  we  find  gleams  of  light,  it  is  associated  with 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  S7 

the  Bible,  hid  away  carefully  from  the  priests,  read  and 
listened  to  in  secret.  Thus  the  Lollards  in  England,  the 
Hussites  in  Bohemia,  the  Valdenses  in  Italy,  and  others 
here  and  there  where  the  Bible  in  some  way  had  found 
access.  Like  King  Josiah  of  old,  when  he  beard  the 
words  of  the  new  found  book,  rent  his  clothes,  and  pro- 
nounced woe  upon  himself  and  the  people,  because  they 
had  not  kept  the  words  of  the  law,  so  Martin  Luther 
when  he  found  the  Bible  in  Erfurt  convent,  never  doubt- 
ing for  a  moment  that  it  was  the  divine,  infallible  word, 
saw  at  once  the  apostacy  of  Christendom,  and  set  about 
remodeling  it  after  the  pattern  of  the  Bible.  Tyndall 
smuggling  copies  of  the  new  printed  Bible  into  England. 
Knox  rousing  Scotland  with  the  suppressed  truth.  Cal- 
vin in  France  and  Zwingly  in  Switzerland,  a  host  of 
heroes  and  martyrs,  finding  inspiration  and  strength 
through  their  implicit  faith  in  the  Scriptures,  fighting 
battles  against  odds  that  we  can  now  scarcely  realize. 
And  it  has  been  the  same  since  then,  the  great  revivals 
and  reformations  with  their  Wesleys,  Edwards  and  Fin- 
neys  have  only  been  produced  by  men  who  believed  the 
Word  of  God  without  doubt  or  question. 

Whenever  faith  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  infallible 
Word  of  God  is  shaken,  there  is  an  end  to  the  mani- 
festation of  spiritual  power  and  life.  The  form  may  re- 
main for  a  while  as  it  often  does,  but  the  consciousness 
of  loss  of  power  is  present,  and  churches  and  ministers 
cease  to  depend  on  it.  Human  device  takes  its  place, 
ritualistic  or  spectacular.  Social  advantages,  entertain- 
ments and  so  forth,  are  held  out  as  inducements,  and 
some  are  added  to  the  church  by  these  means.  Spiritual 
life  and  the  need  of  conversion  is  passed  over  lightly, 
people  are  appealed  to  on  lower  ground,  lower  feelings 


58  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

and  motives  are  allowed  to  suffice,  till  at  last  like  the 
Unitarians,  they  "  do  not  even  know  that  there  is  a 
Holy  Ghost"  and  ridicule  his  power  in  revivals  and  con- 
versions. Generally,  this  spiritual  declension  is  accom- 
panied.^^ith  increased  noise  and  demonstration  about  the 
"needs  of  humanity."  As  failure  to  produce  a  "new 
creature"  by  spiritual  regeneration  becomes  an  accepted 
condition,  the  mending  of  "  the  old  man"  is  attended  to 
with  clamorous  show  of  zeal. 

Great  problems  are  before  this  nation  and  dangers 
threaten — shall  we  be  able  to  meet  them  with  the  wooden 
sword  of  human  speculations  held  by  the  trembling  hand 
of  doubt?  Evangelical  churches  who  have  lost  faith  in 
that  "  two-edged  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word 
of  God,"  and  do  not  have  the  Spirit  to  wield  it,  are  at  a 
disadvantage  every  way.  If  they  turn  to  ritualistic  prac- 
tices and  would  fain  be  satisfied  with  the  "  devotional 
spirit"  that  consists  in  superstitious  homage  of  priest  and 
rites,  and  perhaps  look  with  envious  eyes  at  the  priest 
and  would  like  to  be  partaker  in  this  homage,  so  easily 
secured  and  so  gratifying  to  human  vanity,  in  their  feeble 
appraaches  they  are  easily  outdone  by  regular  ritualistic 
churches.  If  they  turn  to  worldly  devices,  and  depend 
on  accommodating  the  depraved  tastes  of  the  worldling, 
they  are  equally  sure  to  be  beaten  by  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil.  If  they  turn  Unitarian  or  infidel,  and  make 
their  door  as  wide  and  the  way  as  broad  as  the  road  to 
destruction,  the  masses  will  but  despise  them  and  their 
accommodations  of  which  they  have  already  enough. 
"  Do  ye  not,  therefore,  err  because  ye  know  not  the 
Scriptures  nor  the  power  of  God."  These  two  belong 
together  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit"  and  "the  power  of 
God  "  wherewith  to  wield  it.    It  is  said  that  men  will  not 


Christ  and  the  Bible.  59 

nowadays  yield  to  authority,  but  it  is  a  mistake,  they 
never  yield  to  anything  else.  Even  the  painted  author- 
ity of  priest  or  pope  is  yielded  to  readily.  The  Evan- 
gelicals can  only  hope  to  win  as  they  are  able  to  con- 
vince men  that  they  have  authority  behind  them.  It  is 
always  asked  **  in  whose  name  or  by  whose  power  do  you 
this."  Only  as  they  can  manifest  the  authority  will  men  pay 
attention  to  them  or  their  message.  When  the  authority 
indeed  is  manifest  there  is  no  need  of  accommodations 
to  the  flesh.  Men  have  before  this  taken  up  the  cross, 
forsaken  all,  and  followed,  because  they  believed  they 
had  heard  a  message  with  authority  behind  it.  With 
the  emphasis  of  Christ  "  ye  do  therefore,  greatly  err"  in 
discrediting  "  the  Scriptures  and  the  power  of  God  "  your 
only  authority. 


CHAPTER  V. 

INTERPRETATION  AND  THE  NEW  DEPARTURE. 

"What  is  written  in  the  law;  how  readest  thou?"  ''0  fools  and 

slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken.' ' — Christ.  , 

The  Bible  is  written  in  popular  language,  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  common  sense.  The  meaning  must  be 
found  in  the  language  used,  it  is  not  to  be  supplied  by 
our  own  conceit.  The  language  used  is  not  that  of  a 
human  law  book,  written  on  the  supposition  that  the 
reader  may  be  dishonest,  and  will  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  try  to  pervert  the  meaning  to  suit  selfish  ends. 
This  being  the  case  with  a  law  book,  the  greatest  care 
and  skill  is  used  in  wording  the  text,  so  as  to  give  the 
dishonest  reader,  the  ingenious  lawyer,  and  the  -preju- 
diced judge  or  juror  no  occasion  for  his  designs.  The 
Bible  is  written  on  the  presumption  that  the  reader  is 
honest  and  in  reading  simply  desires  to  find  out  the  act- 
ual meaning  of  the  book,  instead  of  casting  about  for 
loopholes  to  escape  the. meaning.  If  a  human  Uw  book 
that  is  worded  with  all  the  skill  and  precision  modern 
scholarship  can  command,  may  yet  be  perverted  and 
misinterpreted  to  serve  selfish  ends,  we  may  not  wonder 
that  the  Bible,  which  is  not* thus  guarded  in  its  expres- 
sions can  be  perverted,  misinterpreted  and  made  to  serve 
selfish  ends,  when  in  the  hands  of  those  that  are  preju- 
diced, dishonest,  and  filled  with  their  own  conceit.  As 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  6i 

the  incarnate  Word  when  he  dwelt  among  men,  was  not 
careful  about  giving  offence  to  those  who  were  only  too 
glad  to  find  offence,  so  with  the  written  Word,  no  care 
is  taken  to  prevent  occasion  for  those  who  seek  occasion. 

How  impossible  it  is  to  disarm  prejudice  and  enforce 
honesty  is  seen  in  the  easy  perversion  of  even  the  most 
carefully  worded  law  book  in  the  hand  of  the  most  intel- 
ligent interpreter.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  supposed  to  be  a  product  of  the  highest  order  of  schol- 
arship; and  those  whose  business  it  is  to  interpret  it, 
are  presumed  to  be  in  an  eminent  sense,  men  of  learning 
and  integrity,  yet  in  scarcely  a  single  case  do  they  agree 
about  the  interpretation  of  this  law.  No  one  will  sup- 
pose this  is  because  the  law  is  incapable  of  a  fair  under- 
standing,- or  that  it  is  on  account  of  intellectual  incapac- 
ity on  the  part  of  the  judges.  We  all  know  that  the 
reason  is  to  be  sought  for  in  deep  rooted  prejudices, 
natural  sympathies  and  some  secret,  lurking  self-interest, 
operating,  perhaps,  without  any  consciousness  of  it.  In 
interpreting  the  Bible  the  same  causes  of  misinterpreta- 
tion operate.  Sometimes  this  is  so  evident  that  there  is 
scarcely  even  a  pretence  of  concealing  it.  Who,  for 
instance,  does  not  at  once  perceive  in  the  Catholic  in- 
terpretation of  the  Scriptures  that  lust  of  power  and 
greed  of  gain  has  made  their  interpretations  to  serve 
these  interests.  Or  who  does  not  perceive  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  Bible  by  Universalists  and  Liberals,  how 
natural  sympathies  are  entirely  consulted,  how  else  come 
they  to  give  more  weight  to  their  forced  interpretation 
of  a  doubtful  passage  than  to  the  plain  statements  of 
twenty  passages. 

It  is  doubtless  tfue  as  some  assert,  that  we  can 
prove  anything  or  everything  by  the  Bible,  but  we  had 


62  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


better  not.  Although  we  are  free,  yet  we  are  responsi- 
ble for  the  use  of  our  freedom.  Nothing  is  easier  than 
to  impose  on  ourselves,  and  do  it  till  we  scarcely  know 
when  we  cheat  or  deceive  ourselves. 

How  little  the  writers  of  the  Bible  cared  to  shield 
themselves  from  adverse  criticism  by  those  who  were 
not  friends,  may  be  seen  in  many  instances.  "Answer 
a  fool  according  to  his  folly,  lest  he  be  wise  in  his  own 
conceit"  says  one  proverb,  and  in  the  next  we  read: 
"  Answer  not  a  fool  according  to  his  folly,  lest  thou  also 
be  like  unto  him.  "  A  plain  contradiction,  unless  one  will 
consider  that  time  and  circumstances  may  have  something 
to  do  with  the  way  in  which  it  is  best  to  answer  a  fool. 
"  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens"  says  St.  Paul,  and  al- 
most immediately  after,  "  for  everyone  shall  bear  his  own 
burdens."  St.  Paul  could  not  have  forgotten  what  he 
had  already  said  for  the  two  passages  are  so  near  to- 
gether that  they  may  be  compassed  in  a  glance.  Yet  he 
does  not  stop  to  explain  the  seeming  contradiction. 
Evidently,  in  writing,  he  is  alone  considering  the  honest 
unprejudiced  reader  to  whom  it  will  readily  occur  that  in 
spite  of  the  general  principle  of  helpfulness,  there  are  bur- 
dens which  it  is  either  just  we  should  bear  ourselves,  or 
impossible  to  be  relieved  from  by  the  help  of  others. 
This  is  but  in  harmony  with  the  general  principle  of 
Bible  writers,  who  never  for  the  sake  of  guarding  against 
prejudice  and  dishonesty,  go  out  of  their  way  to  make 
explanations  which  we  can  make  for  ourselves  if  we  wish 
things  explained.  Apparent  contradictions  may  be 
only  different  views  of  the  same  question  as  illustrated 
in  another  instance:  two  different  accoimts  of  King  Asa 
in  Kings  and  Chronicles  agree  in^ascribing  to  him  the 
same  good  charqicter  and  beneficent  reign,  and  moreover 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  63 

that  he  carried  out  a  reformation  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent. One  writer,  however,  remarks  that  the  high  places 
were  not  taken  away,  the  other  includes  them  among 
other  matters  of  reform.  This  has  been  magnified  into  a 
very  great  difficulty,  what  is  it  but  two  general  accounts, 
not  pretending  to  tell  all  about  it.  One  sees  that  some- 
thing was  done  in  the  way  of  removing  these  places,  the 
other  that  something  was  left  undone.  Where  two  wit- 
nesses of  good  character  agree  in  their  general  state- 
ments, justice  demands  that  any  possible  discrepancy 
should  be  explained  on  rational  ground,  rather  than 
magnified  into  an  insurmountable  difficulty. 

Some  subjects  and  some  doctrines  are  many-sided, 
and  any  one-sided  view  of  such  a  doctrine  may  seem  a 
contradiction  to  another  view  of  the  same  doctrine 
equally  partial.  As  for  instance,  salvation  by  faith  or 
by  works,  set  against  each  other,  instead  of  complement- 
ing each  other.  The  atonement,  an  exhibition  of  God's 
love  wholly,  or  God's  justice  only,  instead  of  both 
equally.  Vicarious  suffering  indeed,  the  just  for  the  un- 
just; but  not  a  final  reckoning  on  the  score  of  justice. 
A  term,  or  a  statement  on  some  subject  made  or  used  in 
a  general  sense,  compared  with  the  same  term  or  a  like 
statement  used  in  a  special  or  obsolete  sense,  can  be 
made  to  look  like  a  serious  discrepancy.  Different  views 
of  the  same  question  pronounced  with  reference  to  dif- 
ferent circumstances  may  in  the  same  way  be  made  to 
appear  like  a  contradiction.  On  discrepancies  and  con- 
tradictions of  this  sort  have  been  constructed  destructive 
theories  with  reference  to  dates  and  authorship  of  dif- 
ferent books,  and  various  adverse  criticism. 

While  no  care  is  taken  in  the  Bible  to  guard  against 
cjishonesty,  carp  is  taj^en  to  guard  against  false  impre§' 


64  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

sions  on  the  part  of  the  honest  reader.  In  a  human  law 
book,  the  perversion  or  misunderstanding  of  a  single 
word  in  a  text  might  alter  the  whole  intent  of  the  law, 
this  could  scarcely  be  in  the  case  of  the  Bible.  All  the 
principal  doctrines  are  taught  not  only  in  one  but  many 
texts  and  books,  by  plain  statements  illustrated  by  par- 
ables and  history,  and  enforced  by  exhortations  and 
warnings.  There  is  in  this  a  provision  against  the  fatal 
consequences  of  accidental  errors  in  the  text.  If  such 
are  found,  they  must  be  proved  in  every  alleged  case, 
and  not  taken  for  granted  whenever  there  is  something 
that  puzzles  the  understanding,  or  fails  to  agree  with 
preconceived  notions.  This  is  only  another  way  of  re- 
pudiating the  authority  of  the  Bible,  and  exalting  our 
fancies  above  it.  A  textual  error  cannot,  properly 
speaking,  be  said  to  be  a  part  of  a  book,  and  does  not 
inveigh  against  its  character.  Nor  is  any  modification 
of  our  conception,  or  profession  of  faith  in  the  infallibility 
of  the  Bible  called  for  on  account  of  any  possible  inac- 
curacy in  the  text.  Whatever  is  involved  in  this  is  per- 
fectly understood,  and  no  extra  provision  is  needed  for 
that  purpose.  There  is  no  difficulty  involved  but  what 
may  be  overcome  by  the  use  of  the  same  common  sense 
that  is  required  in  all  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  Critics 
and  cavilers  can  find  no  case  unless  they  persistingly  ig- 
nore this,  and  refuse  to  have  anything  explained  or  un- 
derstood. Their  aim  is  to  magnify  difficulties,  to  break 
down  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  and  authority,  or  to 
give  it  that  shape  of  uncertainty  and  indefiniteness  which 
leave  room  for  their  speculations  and  play  for  their 
fancies  and  which  relieve  them  of  any  obligation  as  to 
faith  and  morals.  That  the  difficulty  with  them  is  found 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  rather  than  in  the  text  is 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  65 

evident,  for  never  so  soon  have  they  disproved  the  in- 
faUibiHty  of  the  Bible  to  their  own  satisfaction,  before 
they  proceed  against  the  principal  doctrines  of  the  faith 
and  very  soon  involve  the  foundations  of  Christianity  in 
their  attack. 

It  is  needed  that  attention  should  be  called  to  the 
difference  between  religion  as  a  universal  fact,  and  Chris- 
tianity as  a  special  revelation.  We  have  no  knowledge 
of  Christianity  outside  of  the  Bible,  but  we  may  have 
religious  knowledge  without  the  Bible,  as  there  has  never 
been  a  naftion  or  age  without  religious  ideas  and  worship. 
Religious  knowledge  may  be  acquired  by  the  intuitive 
.faculties,  conscience,  whatever  we  see  of  design  in  crea- 
tion; our  observations  and  experience  will  instill  in  us 
religious  ideas  and  notions.  Reason  may  group  together 
these  various  facts,  perceive  their  relations,  interpret 
their  meaning,  and  deduce  religious  and  moral  systems, 
as  pagans  have  never  failed  to  do.  Reason,  in  all  this,  is 
not  the  source  of  information  or  knowledge,  can  originate 
nothing,  but  can  only  judge  of  what  is  discovered  to  us. 
•What  may  be  understood  of  religion  without  the  Bible, 
is  all  comprehended  in  the  Bible;  it  is  the  amplification, 
the  certainty  and  the  full  explanation  of  what  nature 
teaches.  The  intimations  of  nature  are  verified  for  us  in 
the  Bible,  by  direct  revelation  as  a  message  from  God. 
Moreover,  the  Bible  contains  a  record  of  religious  facts 
of  momentous  importance  which  nature  could  not  dis- 
cover to  us.  The  Bible,  therefore,  is  the  final  authority 
to  Christians;  when  God  speaks  from  the  Bible,  reason 
hears  and  understands  and  cannot  go  beyond  it.  Imag- 
ination may  go  beyond  it,  or  outside  of  it,  there  is  no 
limit  to  that  faculty.  The  one  who  imagines  may  con- 
sider his  imaginations  reasonable,  but  this  does  not  alter 


66  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  fact  that  they  are  fancies.  Such  should  not  be 
grafted  on  the  Bible  or  Christianity,  as  additional  facts, 
progressive  truths,  etc.  The  Bible  and  imagination, 
even  when  dignified  by  the  name  of  reason,  cannot  stand 
alongside  each  other  as  authorities. 

If  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God  it  is  according  to 
the  highest  reason,  and  such  reason  will  judge  it  reason- 
able. Man's  reason  is  not  of  the  highest  order,  is  not 
infallible;  as  a  faculty  in  man  it  is  hampered  and  imposed 
upon  by  passion,  prejudice,  pride,  prevailing  sentiments 
and  customs,  natural  sympathies,  self-interests  in  various 
forms;  and  other  infirmities  and  imperfections  that  flesh 
is  heir  to.  We  may,  therefore,  not  look  upon  reason  as* 
a  perfect  guide  in  understanding  religious  truth,  even 
when  revealed  to  us,  much  less  as  a  revealer  of  truth. 
In  order  to  understand  and  appreciate  truth  as  revealed 
to  us,  it  is  needed  that  we  besides  reason,  should  have  a 
spirit  in  sympathy  with  truth,  as  Christ  said,  "  the  spirit 
of  truth,"  which  is  the  spirit  of  Christ.  The  more  man 
is  able  to  rise  above  his  natural  infirmities,  as  mentioned 
of  all  kinds,  the  nearer  he  is  allied  to  God  in  wisdom 
and  virtue,  the  more  reliable  is  his  reason  and  the  better 
will  he  be  able  to  judge  of  the  reasonableness  of  any- 
thing. Those  w4io  have  been  nearest  to  God  in  all  ages, 
have  always  found  the  least  difficulty  about  the  Bible. 

When  one  professes  Christianity,  the  presumption 
is  that  he  has  found  it  reasonable;  when  he  disputes  its 
reasonableness,  he  goes  back  and  his  profession;  if  he 
proceeds  to  exalt  his  reason  as  an  authority  to  which 
revelation  must  be  subjected,  he  declares  himself  an  un- 
believer; to  persist  in  staying  in  the  church  after  this 
would  make  him  a  dishonest  intruder. 

The  relation  of  the  church  to  religious  truth  is  the 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  67 

same  as  that  of  the  individual  member.  There  is  no 
moral,  intellectualbr  supernatural  element  inherent  in  the 
church  that  is  not  possessed  by  the  individual  Christian. 
If  we  multiply  one  by  a  thousand  ciphers,  the  result  is 
but  one;  if  we  multiply  finite  wisdom  with  ever  so  many 
units,  the  result  is  but  finite  wisdom,  and  this  is  all  that 
the  church  can  bring  to  bear  upon  any  question.  The 
church  has  only  the  same  sources  of  information  in  re- 
gard! to  religious  truth  as  has  the  individual,  and  can  not 
make  or  manufacture  truth  any  more  than  the  individual. 
Her  decisions  can  make  nothing  true  that  is  not  already 
true.  She  is  not,  therefore,  any  more  than  reason  to  be 
-  set  up  as  original  authority  alongside  with  the  Scriptures. 
She  is  authority  as  to  her  faith  and  convictions. 

When  it  is  asked  by  individual  Christians,  to  what 
extent  the  Spirit  of  God  may  be  a  source  of  religious 
knowledge  aside  from  the  Bible;  we  observe  that  the 
very  object  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  give  a  clear  and  definite 
expression  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  But  Christianity 
is  not  merely  a  communication  by  the  Spirit  addressed 
to  our  feelings  and  emotions  and  comprehended  by  an 
internal  experience;  it  is  the  record  and  communication 
of  facts  connected  with  the  whole  schem.eof  redemption, 
addressed  to  our  understanding  and  moral  sense,  and 
comprehended  by  our  reason.  These  facts  are  not  re- 
vealed to  Christians  by  way  of  impulses  and  intuitions 
but  by  the  written  record  we  have  of  them  in  the  Bible, 
and  nowhere  else.  A  Christian  may  hope  for  com- 
munion with  God  through  the  Spirit,  to  the  end  that  he 
may  be  enlightened  so  as  to  understand  the  facts,  and 
realize  the  power  of  the  truth  in  his  own  soul.  Impulses 
and  impressions  from  evil  influences  may  come  even  to 
Christians,  all  such  must  be  tested  by  the  perfect  ex- 


68  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

pression  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Bible.  Other- 
wise we  should  continually  be  imposed  upon  by  the  spec- 
ulations of  Freethinkers  and  the  hallucinations  of 
dreamers.  Nor  does  it  make  our  infidelity  and  faithless- 
ness to  the  Word  of  God  any  better  because  we  are  able 
"  to  pray  over  it."  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  form  our 
selfish  wishes  and  desires  into  a  prayer  and  supposed 
suggestion  of  the  Spirit  and  answer  them  ourselves  in  the 
affirmative.  This  is  only  making  our  prayer  an  excuse 
for  our  self-will.  "  Believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the 
spirits  whether  they  are  of  God."  The  spirit  ttiat  sneers 
at  the  Bible  and  tries  to  undermine  faith  in  its  authority 
we  may  know  is  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  for  his  indigna- 
tion was  hot  against  those  that  did  the  same  in  his  days. 
The  revelation  of  God's  will  and  plan  of  salvation  in  the 
Bible  is  complete,  and  when  personal,  special  revelation 
is  claimed,  it  is  invariably  because  the  one  in  the  Bible 
does  not  suit  the  carnal  nature  and  the  inspiration  is 
from  this  source.  We  are  promised  the  aid  of  the  holy 
Spirit  in  understanding  the  Scriptures.  "  Then  opened 
he  their  understanding  that  they  might  understand  the 
Scriptures."  "  We  have  also  a  more  sure  word  of  proph- 
ecy whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed." 


It  is  strange  to  think  of  a  being  living  in  the  en- 
lightened age  of  the  first  century,  later  than  Plato  or 
Cicero,  Alexander  or  Caeser,  a  being  that  has  revolu- 
tionized the  world,  and  is  worshiped  by  hundreds  of 
millions,  as  the  one  perfect  in  wisdom,  love  and  power, 
and  yet  of  whom  absolutely  nothing  is  known  except 
what  we  find  within  the  covers  of  the  New  Testament. 
Why  was  this?    It  was  an  age  of  learning,  everyone 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  69 

either  desiring  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing.  Why 
should  not  mention  of  him  have  been  found  plentifully 
scattered  throughout  the  literature  of  the  times?  Why 
should  not  pagan,  Jew  and  disciple  have  vied  with  each 
other  in  setting  forth  his  life  and  reporting  his  doctrine? 
Why  was  it  reserved  for  four  of  his  own  disciples  to  do 
alone  this  work  as  though  they  were  indeed  "  chosen 
witnesses." 

We  have  in  our  age  many  attempts  to  get  away 
from  the  written  record  of  Christ's  life  and  character, 
while  yet  keeping  hold  of  Christ  and  a  kind  of  Christian- 
ity. We  have  vague  and  indefinite  references  to  Christ 
as  the  one  sufficient  fact — -aside  from  the  record  or 
slightly  connected  with  it.  "  Holding  up  Christ  alone  as 
our  creed,"  an  ideal  Christ  that  delivers  us  from  the  very 
definite  and  clear  testimony  of  the  true  Christ  in  regard 
to  the  Scriptures,.  Christ,  a  "  unique  "  being,  not  well 
accounted  for.  The  term  "  unique  "  may  do  very  well 
as  a  step  in  an  argument,  showing  the  character  of  Christ, 
but  it  has  apparently  come  to  be  the  stopping-place  of 
many  who  profess  to  be  Christians.  But  it  was  not  till 
Thomas  could  say  *'  My  Lord  and  my  God,"  that  Christ 
acknowledged  him  a  believer  and  he  pronounced  his 
blessing  upon  those  that  should  thus  believe.  Again,  we 
have  **  the  historic  Christ"  a  seemingly  innocent  and  per- 
haps sometimes  well-meant  phrase,  and  yet  generally  in- 
volving an  effort  to  meet  skepticism  half  way.  St.  Paul 
spoke  in  his  days  of  those  who  preached"  another  Christ." 
There  is  many  "  another  Christ "  preached  in  our  days. 
In  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word  there  is  no  *'  historic 
Christ."  There  is  only  the  Christ  of  the  Bible.  No 
doubt  the  Gospels  may  be  called  history,  and  very  good 
history  too,  but  they  are  distinct  and  apart  from  the 


70  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

world's  history,  and  can  not  be  classed  with  it.  Josephus 
wrote  a  comprehensive  history  of  the  Jewish  people, 
covering  the  period  of  Christ's  life,  but  Christ,  his  life, 
work  and  character  is  no  part  of  it.  Some  have  deplored 
this,  and  even  tried  to  make  up  for  the  defect,  but  the 
circumstance  has  a  significance  of  its  own.  Mere  allu- 
sions to  the  fact  of  Christ  and  Christians  by  seculcir 
writers  of  the  first  one  or  two  centuries  after  Christ,  may 
be  counted  upon  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  This  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  Christianity  had  already  become  a  power 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  and  Christians  numerous.  Why 
this  exclusiveness?  It  can  only  be  explained  on  the 
presumption  that  a  divine  Providence  overruled  every- 
thing connected  with  his  advent,  life  and  death,  and  that 
there  was  a  purpose  and  importance  involved  in  this, 
which  made  it  necessary  in  the  divine  plan,  that  the 
record  should  be  kept  pure  and  authentic;  this  could  not 
have  been,  if  his  life  and  teaching  had  become  part  of 
the  history  and  literature  of  the  age;  there  would  have 
been  much  spurious,  indefinite  and  doubtful  mixed  with 
the  true,  so  much  so  that  every  particular  person  might 
have  formed  his  own  particular  opinion  about  Christ  and 
his  teaching,  and  perhaps  have  had  reasonable  ground. 
The  spirit  of  this  age  is  anxious  for  a  Christ  and  a  gos- 
pel, different  from  what  we  have  in  the  New  Testament. 
With  what  avidity  would  they  have  seized  upon  informa- 
tion outside  of  the  Bible.  But,  alas,  for  their  effort, 
there  is  not  a  scrap  of  information  outside  of  it.  Anxious 
as  they  are,  they  would  not  dare  to  lay  hold  on  anything 
outside  the  Bible  as  authentic  and  trustworthy.  Take 
away  the  written  record  of  the  evangelists,  and  you  have 
ah  empty  space,  a  formless  void  in*  the  world's  history, 
it  is  only  as  the  spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  minds  of 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure, 

the  sacred  writers,  that  a  veritable  Christ  and  Gospel  was 
preserved  for  after  ages. 

The  church  is  no  authority,  it  has  not  preserved  a 
single  fact  about  Christ.  The  only  tradition  of  the 
church  that  is  of  any  value  is  that  of  the  authenticity  of 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures;  it  corroborates  what 
other  evidence  we  have  to  that  effect.  Outside  the  New 
Testament,  the  church  cannot  tell  us  of  a  single  thing 
that  Jesus  did,  nor  a  single  word  of  what  he  taught,  or 
what  he  organized.  It  is  wholly  dependent  on  the  Bible 
for  what  it  knows  and  what  it  believes.  Early  the  church 
began  to  "  give  heed  to  seducing  spirits  "  and  "fables;" 
inventions  of  popes  and  priests;  it  quiclcly  changed  and 
lost  its  original  form  and  purpose,  so  much  so  that  at 
the  time  of  the  reformation,  no  one  who  knew  what  the 
church  was  in  the  apostolic  age,  could  have  discovered 
in  the  church  as  it  then  was,  the  successor  of  it.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  this  transformation  had  taken  place 
although  the  Scriptures  had  not  been  lost,  but  only  put 
aside,  ignored  and  misconstrued.  The  church  was  only 
restored  to  something  like  its  original  form  and  purpose, 
by  referring  to  the  Scriptures.  Luther  and  the  rest  of 
the  reformers  consulted  nothing  else  in  their  work  of 
reformation.  If  there  had  been  no  written  record  of 
Christ  and  his  teaching,  is  it  likely  that  the  church  by 
this  time  would  have  been  sure  of  a  single  thing  about 
it,  if  indeed  it  had  preserved  its  name  and  organization, 
which  is  doubtful? 

What  then  is  to  be  said  of  attempts  to  introduce  a 
Christ  and  Christianity  that  makes  light  of  the  written 
record — only  this,  that  as  a  matter  of  consistency,  they 
must  apply  the  selective  process  to  Christ  as  well  as  to 
the  Scriptures  which  he  so  fully  endorsed,  the  Christ  of 


72  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  itself  cannot  be  separated. 
Having  then  established  the  selective  process  in  dealing 
with  the  Scriptures,  they  proceed  to  deal  with  Christ  in 
the  same  way,  leaving  out  such  attributes  as  offend  them, 
and  ascribing  to  him  such  as  please  them.  In  proportion 
as  the  authority  of  the  Bible  as  a  divine  revelation  grows 
weak,  so  the  character  of  Christ,  as  God  manifested  in 
the  flesh,  grows  uncertain.  Affirmations  first  lose  their 
positive  quality,  and  then  dwindle  into  ill-defined  and 
vague  terms,  reducing  Christ  to  a  more  or  less  mys- 
terious person.  His  "divinity"  may  well  be  allowed, 
the  dishonesty  that  professes  a  form  of  faith  and  rules  out 
the  substance  counts  for  nothing  with  modern  liberals. 
It  will  be  reserved  as  understood  that  in  a  sense  every- 
thing is  divine,  that  we  may  all  be  called  sons  of  God, 
and  that  the  whole  nature  is  an  incarnation.  Christ  be- 
comes to  them  really  but  an  ideality  projected  by  their 
own  mind.  That  they  can  truthfully  boast  of  following 
this  their  own  creation  of  a  Christ  is  not  wonderful,  hav- 
ing created  him  after  their  own  image  in  their  own  like- 
ness, they  will  as  a  matter  of  inclination  worship  him, 
and  follow  his  teaching;  in  doing  so  they  follow  only 
their  own  mind  and  their  own  theories,  for  they  do  not 
allow  him  to  teach  anything  else.  According  to  this 
selective  method  of  making  a  Bible  and  creating  a  Christ, 
each  may  worship  his  own  image,  and  follow  the  teach- 
ing of  his  own  heart.  To  the  worldly,  vicious  and 
wicked,  Christ  becomes  simply  a  convenience  forgetting 
to  heaven  without  repentance  and  holiness,  the  one  only 
anxious  to  pardon  their  iniquity  and  enable  them  to  sin 
with  impunity.  To  the  sentimentalist,  Christ  becomes 
merely  the  sentimental  lover  of  mankind.  Respectable, 
society  people  will  make  of  Christ  an  acceptable  pattern, 


Interpretation  and  the  New  Departure.  73 

a  highly  moral  and  respectable  being,  with  a  halo  of 
religious  mystery  to  heighten  the  interest;  and  upon  the 
whole,  when  it  is  asked,  who  or  what  is  Christ  and  his 
teaching,  the  only  information  we  have  on  the  question 
will  be  lightly  consulted;  the  sentiment  of  the  age,  the 
morbid  mind  of  the  bookworm,  the  disordered  nerves  of 
"  society''  will  give  the  answer. 

We  are  in  a  land  of  liberty;  no  one  is  compelled  to 
believe  in  Christianity,  or  to  profess  faith  in  its  religion, 
who  in  heart  is  adverse  to  its  doctrines.  Anyone  is  per- 
mitted to  believe  he  can  improve  on  the  Christianity  of 
Christ,  by  alterations,  additions  or  exceptions.  But  as 
a  matter  of  common  honesty  he  has  no  right  to  call  this 
product  of  his  own  mind  by  the  name  of  Christianity,  or 
in  any  way  to  stamp  it  with  the  authority  of  its  founder. 
If  we  believe  in  Christianity,  we  must  believe  that  Christ 
understood  it  and  was  competent  to  teach  it. 

Christ,  when  he  was  on  earth,  was  never  anxious  to 
attach  to  him  those  who  were  constitutionally  opposed 
to  his  doctrines.  When  the  gaping*,  curious  multitude 
thronged  about  him  as  would-be  followers,  although  they 
had  no  heart  for  his  teaching,  instead  of  conciliating 
them,  he  flung  them  back  with  even  harsher  demands. 
The  learned  and  wise  fared  no  better,  Unless  ye  eat 
the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood  ye  have 
no  life  in  you."  "This  is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  hear 
him?"  "  Dost  thou  know,  Master,  that  the  Pharisees 
were  offended  at  thy  words?"  "  Let  them  alone,  they 
are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind."  The  repelling  force  of 
the  Gospel  is  as  great  as  the  attracting.  Christianity  is 
not  to  be  imposed  on  anyone,  and  the  complaint  is  not 
about  "  freedom  of  thought"  but  lack  of  consistency.  It 
is  the  dishonest  attempt  to  lead  the  believer  gently,  as  it 


74  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

were,  step  by  step,  away  from  faith  in  the  authority  of 
the  Bible.  It  is  the  subtile,  insinuating  attempt  to  un- 
dermine faith  in  Christianity  under  the  guise  of  friendship 
and  a  profession,  which  is  apparent  in  all  their  action, 
and  even  goes  so  far  as  to  break  out  into  rancorious  ac- 
cusations and  profane  sneers,  if  the  church  is  not  at  once 
willing  to  abandon  the  Word  of  God  and  take  up  with 
their  theories. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


INTERPRETATION  AND  RITUALISM. 

**  Do  ye  not  therefore  err  because  ye  know  not  the  Scriptures  neither  the 
power  of  God?" — Christ. 

The  difference  between  the  ritualistic  and  evangeli- 
cal interpretation  of  Scripture  does  not  consist  in  any- 
marked  disagreement  about  the  letter  of  the  Bible,  but 
in  the  different  interpretation  of  the  spirit  of  the  book. 
They  may  hold  practically  the  same  doctrines,  but  they 
differ  widely  in  the  application  of  them.  The  reason  for 
this  the  Scripture  itself  ascribes  to  the  carnal  mind  that 
does  not  comprehend  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
It  tells  us  that  in  order  to  understand  and  appreciate  the 
truths  in  their  spiritual  depths,  there  is  needed  a  spirit  in 
sympathy  with  the  truth.  The  assumption  is,  that  none 
but  those  who  are  spiritually  minded  are  likely  to  realize 
the  meaning  of  truths  pertaining  to  our  spiritual  relation 
to  God.  This  relation  signifies  something  more  than 
what  is  implied  in  morality  and  the  expression  of  piety 
in  religious  ordinances.  It  has  reference  to  communion 
with  God  and  the  work  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  human 
heart.  In  order  to  be  impressed  with  this,  a  certain  at- 
titude towards  God  is  required,  either  that  of  the  prodi- 
gal returning  to  his  father's  house,  or  that  of  the  accepted 
son  at  home  with  his  father.  At  least  a  spiritual  awak- 
ening, or  the  full  development  of  a  spiritual  life.    This  is 


76  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

taught  in  such  passages  as  this;  "The  natural  man  re- 
ceived not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God:  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him:  neither  can  he  know  them,  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned,"  etc.  Christ  fully  recog- 
nized the  utter  impossibility  of  impressing  the  grossly 
carnal-minded  with  spiritual  facts  and  doctrines,  such  he 
found  among  the  learned,  the  cultured,  the  priests,  as 
well  as  among  the  ignorant  multitude.  He  did  not  even 
care  to  attempt  to  explain  to  them  the  spiritual  signifi- 
cance of  his  parables  and  metaphors,  because  in  them 
was  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Esaias,  "  Hearing  ye  shall 
hear,  and  shall  not  understand;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see, 
and  shall  not  perceive:  for  this  people's  heart  is  waxed 
gross,"  etc.  Even  his  disciples  were  in  the  beginning  so 
dull  of  apprehension  that  they  often  provoked  his  right- 
eous indignation.  On  one  occasion  he  said  to  them  "  be- 
ware of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  and 
they  reasoned  among  themselves,  saying,  it  is  because 
we  have  taken  no  bread.  Which  when  Jesus  perceived, 
he  said  unto  them,  O  ye  of  little  faith,  how  is  it  that  ye 
do  not  understand  that  I  spake  it  not  to  you  concerning 
bread."  In  like  manner  Christ  said,  "  Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no 
life  in  you."  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the 
Spirit  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  Ritu- 
alist, in  the  grossness  of  his  carnal  apprehension,  conse- 
crates a  wafer  and  believes  he  is  in  very  fact  eating  the 
flesh  of  Christ;  he  consecrates  a  little  water  and  believes 
it  has  changed  him  all  over.  "  How  is  it  that  ye  do  not 
understand  that  I  spake  it  not  to  you  concerning  bread 
when  I  said.  Except,  etc.;  verily  in  them  is  fulfilled  the 
prophecy  of  Esaiah  as  much  as  in  those  of  old." 

It  is  involved  in  the  giving  of  a  revelation  from  God 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  77 

that  it  should  be  comprehended,  but  it  is  not  involved 
that  the  comprehension  should  be  by  miraculous  endow- 
ment; the  supposition  is  rather  that  it  must  be  by  the 
faculties  of  judgment  and  reason  given  us  for  that  pur- 
pose, coupled  with  that  spirit  of  sympathy,  without  which 
no  book  or  communication  is  well  understood.  TK^se 
do  not  insure  infallibility,  whether  exercised  by  a  pope 
or  anyone  else;  they  insure  a  degree  of  correctness,  cor- 
responding to  the  degree  of  intelligence  and  spiritual 
insight  on  the  part  of  the  reader.  When  the  pope  claims 
for  himself  the  gift  of  God's  spirit  to  enable  him  to  un- 
•derstand  the  Scriptures,  he,  claims  only  what  God  has 
promised  to  all  his  children  for  the  same  purpose.  If 
the  pope  makes  his  claim  on  the  ground  of  character  and 
spiritual  sonship,  his  claim,  if  he  is  a  child  of  God,  is  as 
good  as  any  other  child  of  God;  if  he  claims  it  on  the 
ground  of  office,  it  is  a  carnal  apprehension  of  spiritual 
truth.  The  promise  of  the  holy  Spirit  is  '*to  all  those 
that  obey  him"  and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with 
God."  Office,  title  and  dress  does  not  count  with  God, 
and  will  not  enable  one  to  work  the  miracle  of  infallibly 
comprehending  the  Bible.  The  difficulty  is  not  in  get- 
ting at  its  meaning  as  though  it  were  a  mystery;  the 
difficulty  on  the  part  of  priests  and  popes  as  well  as  lay- 
men, is  to  produce  a  heart  and  mind  open  to  the  truth. 

We  believe  that  the  holy  Spirit  given  to  all  the  chil- 
dren of  God  does  make  them  less  fallible  and  faulty  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  in  which  they  receive  it.  But 
neither  the  promise  of  God  nor  any  experience  would 
justify  us  in  claiming  absolute  infallibility;  if  this  were 
the  case,  then  all  Christians  would  be  infallible,  for  they 
all  have  the  gift  of  God's  Spirit,  if  they  are  indeed  his 
children.    But  anyone  who  undertakes  to  interpret  the 


78  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

Scriptures,  even  if  he  be  not  a  pope,  does  claim  some- 
thing^ akin  to  infallibility,  he  claims  that  he  is  right;  if  he 
is  honest  he  cannot  claim  anything  less  for  his  interpre- 
tation. But  in  claiming  he  is  right  he  does  not  ask  any- 
one to  take  his  word  for  it,  he  allows  that  his  assertion 
of  being  right  may  be  brought  to  the  test;  and  the  test 
in  this  case  is  the  Word  of  God,  as  read  and  understood 
by  others,  who  as  men  of  intelligence  and  children  of 
God,  have  an  equal  right  to  judge.  The  difference  there- 
fore in  the  claim  of  being  infallible  and  the  claim  of  being 
simply  right,  is,  that  the  latter  does  not  persevere  in  his 
claim,  unless  it  can  stand  the  test  of  the  Word  of  God* 
and  the  judgment  of  honest  men;  but  a  claim  to  infalli- 
bility demands  that  the  interpretation  shall  be  taken  for 
granted  to  be  right,  and  deny  to  others  the  right  to  test 
it,  or  examine  it  critically.  If  an  interpretation  be  left 
open  to  criticism  and  future  review,  a  wrong  impression 
may  be  corrected,  but  if  it  is  established  by  infallibility, 
it  remains  established  whether  right  or  wrong. 

In  the  Catholic  Church,  the  miraculous  endowment 
claimed  by  the  head  of  the  church  assumes  that.shape  of 
mechanical  appliance  characteristic  of  ritualistic  cnurches, 
which  serve  as  a  substitute  for  spiritual  operations.  He 
claims  the  endowment  as  a  miraculous  gift  to  work  a 
miracle  of  infallibility,  not  merely  as  a  power  to  en- 
lighten his  understanding  and  bring  him  into  sympathy 
with  truth;  he  claims  it  on  the  ground  of  office  and  in 
his  capacity  as  official,  rather  than  on  the  ground  of 
spiritual  sonship  and  holy  aspirations.  Catholics  are 
bound  to,  and  do  believe,  that  a  wicked  pope  would  have 
this  supernatural  endowment  equally  with  one  who  had 
some  ground  in  character  to  claim  a  degree  of  the 
power.    The  work  of  interpretation  is  that  of  an  office. 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  79 

and  the  process  a  mechanical  certainty.  A  perplexing 
question  is  brought  to  this  ofifice,  run  through  the  pro- 
cess and  comes  out  infallibly  settled.  Questions  not 
only  in  theology,  but  in  science  and  politics,  used  to  be 
settled  in  the  same  infallible  way.  Questions  in  astro- 
nomy and  other  sciences  were  brought  to  the  pope,  run 
through  the  process,  and  declared  infallibly  settled.  But 
science  became  active,  and  proved  that  the  process  was 
a  blunder,  and  the  result  anything  but  infallible.  In  the 
presence  of  certain  facts,  by  which  the  result  could  be 
tested,  the  infallible  process  was  not  a  success,  and  was 
therefore  abandoned,  except  in  theology,  where  demon- 
stration is  not  obtainable. 

It  would  be  well  for  Christiendom  if  no  other  or 
worse  error  existed  than  those  due  to  want  of  infallibil- 
ity on  the  part  of  men  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures.  It 
is  sufficient  that  the  laws  of  God  are  infallible,  even  as 
the  laws  of  nature;,  with  a  sure  basis  for  our  reasoning, 
the  exercise  of  this  with  the  rest  of  our  faculities  willin- 
sure  satisfactory  results.  It  were  better  that  the  results 
should  be  in  a  slight  measure  faulty  than  that  man  should 
be  reduced  to  an  automaton,  simply  to  be  worked  by 
God  as  a  mechanical  certainty.  The  greatest  cause  of 
error  is  want  of  apprehension  of,  or  sympathy  with  truth. 
Eccentric  or  undisciplined  minds  have  at  times  started 
errors  that  have  found  considerable  acceptance.  But  the 
worst  of  all  errors  are  due  to  mercenary  motives.  To  fill 
the  coffers  of  church  and  ecclesiastics,  to  establish  them 
in  power  and  keep  the  masses  in  subjection,  interpreta- 
tions have  been  put  upon  the  Word  of  God  that  anyone 
may  pronounce  infallibly  to  be  the  work  of  "cunning 
craftiness." 

Master  minds  of  intelligence  are  doubtless  needed 


8o  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

for  the  heavy  work  of  systematizing  truths  and  harmon- 
izing doctrines,  but  otherwise,  in  the  words  of  Christ,  it 
is  often  revealed  to  babes  what  is  hidden  from  the 
wise  and  prudent."  Ecclesiastics  in  high  authority  are 
apt  to  have  their  particular  party  and  interests  to  defend, 
and  this  is  apt  to  blind  their  vision,  and  prejudice  their 
minds.  The  humble  child  of  God,  who  comes  to  the 
Bible  with  no  other  desire  than  that  of  knowing  his 
Father's  will,  has  in  this  singleness  of  aim  a  great  ad- 
vantage in  realizing  and  appreciating  the  truth.  There 
is  therefore  no  need  of  taking  second-handed  what  one 
can  find  in  its  original  purity  in  the  Word  of  God.  But 
the  position  of  middlemen  is  profitable  in  religion  as 
well  as  in  trade  and  politics.  Popes  and  priests  have 
established  themselves  as  such  middlemen.  They  are 
like  the  smart  politician,  who  is  never  weary  of  assuring 
his  constituents  that  their  interests  are  safe  in  his  hands, 
and  that  all  what  they  have  to  do  is  to  put  in  their 
vote  and  pay  their  taxes;  or  they  might  be  likened  to 
the  dishonest  middleman  in  trade,  who  not  only  demands 
a  large  percentage  of  profit,  but  falsifies  his  wares  and 
cheats  his  customers;  thus  popes  and  priests  not  only 
levy  heavy  tribute,  but  falsify  the  doctrines  to  suit  their 
selfish  purposes,  and  tell  their  dupes  that  it  is  reserved 
for  them  alone  to  understand  the  Word  of  God,  that 
they  may  keep  the  knowledge  of  their  knavery  from  the 
common  people. 

The  difference  between  the  evangelical  and  ritual- 
istic interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
not  a  mere  disagreement  about  the  meaning  of  passages, 
it  is  the  difTerence  between  the  carnal  and  the  spiritual 
interpretation  of  Christianity  as  a  whole.    As  apprehen- 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  8i 

sion  of  the  spiritual  element  in  religion  grows  weak  and 
feeble,  ceremonials  are  multiplied,  and  the  stress  laid 
upon  them  magnified;  a^  was  seen  in  the  Jewish  church 
up  to  the  time  of  Christ;  in  the  development  of  the 
Romish  system,  after  the  decadence  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, and  as  seen  at  present  among  Ritualists  of  the 
Anglican  communion.  The  fact  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
his  work  in  the  redemption  of  men,  as  plainly  taught  in 
the  Scriptures,  could  not  be  denied.  They  symbolize 
this  work  in  their  ceremonials,  which  are  so  many  at- 
tempts to  account  for  and  manifest  what  they  have  failed 
to  realize  by  personal  experience  or  spiritual  apprehen- 
sion. 

The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  church  is  that  of 
regeneration,  the  Holy  Spirit  taking  possession  of  a 
human  soul,  infusing  into  it  his  own  life,  and  transform- 
ing it  into  the  likeness  of  God.  By  virtue  of  this  "  con- 
version "  or  "new  birth"  a  person  is  admitted  into  fel- 
lowship with  the  church.  So  teach  both  the  Ritual- 
ists and  the  Evangelicals.  But  here  at  the  very  founda- 
tion of  Christianity  we  mark  the  difference  between  the 
carnal  and  spiritual  interpretation.  The  Ritualists,  find- 
ing it  necessary  to  account  for,  and  give  expression  to 
the  spiritual  doctrine  of  regeneration  in  some  way,  do 
so  by  making  the  symbol  of  regeneration  equivalent  to 
the  fact  of  regeneration.  This  symbol  is  baptism.  In 
the  primitive  church,  when  a  person  professed  his  faith 
in  Christ,  and  it  was  ascertained  that  his  faith  had  pro- 
duced repentance  and  conversion,  or  regeneration,  then 
he  was  taken  into  the  church,  having  the  rite  of  baptism 
administered  to  him  as  a  token  of  the  regeneration  sup- 
posed to  have  taken  place.  In  ritualistic  churches,  in- 
stead of  baptism  being  administered  as  a  token  of  a  re- 


82  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

generation  already  brought  about  by  repentance  and 
faith,  it  is  administered  to  produce  regeneration.  Not 
that  it  is  supposed  that  the  sprrnkHng  of  water  alone  pro- 
duces this  change,  but  it  is  believed  that  when  baptism 
is  administered  by  the  priest  in  due  order — great  stress 
is  laid  on  this — then  the  Holy  Spirit  will  be  present  and 
regenerate  the  infant  or  adult,  as  the  case  may  be.  Ac- 
cording to  their  faith,  a  tremendous  change  has  taken 
place  in  the  baptized  person;  before  baptism  he  was 
carnal  and  a  child  of  the  devil;  now  he  is  spiritual  and  a 
child  of  God.  That  no  such  change  has  ever  been  wit- 
nessed actually  to  take  place  by  the  mere  administration 
of  this  rite,  either  in  infants  or  adults,  is  not  apparently 
their  business.  If  it  is  not  baptism,  then  they  do  not 
know  what  it  is.  According  to  their  own  way  of  putting 
it,  to  baptize  a  person  is  to  make  him  a  Christian,  and  he 
is  made  a  Christian  by  being  baptized.  Their  statement 
of  the  case  reflects  severely  upon  St.  Paul,  for  he  tells  us 
in  one  of  his  Epistles,  that  he  baptized  but  a  few,  con- 
sequently made  but  few  Christians.  It  would  even  imply 
that  the  Apostle  is  a  trifle  blasphemous,  for  he  actually 
thanks  God  that  he  has  baptized  but  a  few.  •  Christ  fares 
nothing  better,  for  it  is  said  of  him  expressly,  that  he  did 
not  baptize,  he  left  that  to  his  disciples  as  subordinate 
work. 

Regeneration,  as  has  been  said,  is  the  qualification 
for  church  membership,  so  admitted  to  be  both  by  Ri- 
tualists and  Evangelicals.  When  this  regeneration  is  re- 
quired as  a  fact,  manifest  by  its  fruit,  then  the  church 
becomes  what  it  was  originally  meant  to  be.  When  bap- 
tism, either  of  infants  or  adults,  is  made  to  stand  for  re- 
generation, it  becomes  equivalent  to  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  every  kind  and  character,  as  we  see  it  in  ritual- 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  83 

istic  State  Churches,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  where 
everybody  are,  by  virtue  of  infant  baptism,  members  of 
the  church,  profane,  wicked,  worldly  of  every  grade.  No 
wonder  the  Catholics  have  found  it  expedient  to  insti- 
tute an  order  of  Saints  in  the  church,  to  represent  its 
holiness,  but  according  to  Bible  definition  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  all  its  members  are  Saints,  or  else  they  are  in- 
truders. 

In  keeping  with  tlieir  system,  and  the  same  law  of 
carnal  interpretation  is  their  doctrine  of  apostolic  suc- 
cession. When  the  Jews,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  boasted 
of  being  in  the  succession  by  virtue  of  their  descent  from 
Abraham,  John  the  Baptist  told  them  that  their  boast 
was  a  small  matter,  God  might  from  the  very  stones  rise 
up  children  to  Abraham.  Christ  likewise  rebuked  their 
carnal  ideas  and  lack  of  spiritual  apprehension,  when  they 
made  the  same  boast  before  him.  He  tells  them  that 
they  might  be  the  children  of  the  devil,  for  all  that 
they  were  children  of  Abraham  according  to  the  flesh. 
He  tells  them  that  "the  flesh" — the  mere  carnal,  or 
outward,  profits  nothing,  it  is  "the  Spirit  that  giveth 
life."  Still,  the  Jews  persisted  in  pointing  to  their  long 
genealogies,  leading  back  to  the  fathers  and  patriarchs, 
claiming,  by  virtue  of  this  succession,  to  be  "  the  only 
true  church,"  for  which  reason  St.  Paul  in  like  manner  re- 
bukes them.  He  tells  them  that  their  succession  by 
book  and  numbers  is  vain;  that  it  is  those  that  have  the 
faith  of  Abraham  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Patriarchs,  that 
are  their  true  successors.  This  was  quite  incomprehen- 
sible to  the  ritualistic  Jews;  they  must  establish  their  re- 
lation to  the  fathers  by  some  outward  proof  or  token. 
So  it  is  with  Ritualists  of  to-day;  they  count  back  their 
succession  to  the  apostles  by  an  uninterrupted  laying  on 


84  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

of  hands,  duly  numbered  and  booked  down.  We  tell 
them  that  their  succession  is  according  to  the  flesh" — 
outward  circumstance — and  *^the  flesh  profited  nothing." 
It  is  those  that  have  the  faith  and  spirit  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles  that  are  their  true  successors. 

But  speaking  of  being  in  the  succession  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  Christ,  and  the  apostles  that  were  with 
him,  in  instituting  and  organizing  the  church,  laying 
down  rules  and  delivering  doctrines,  had  an  authority 
and  an  office,  to  which  no  one  can  succeed.  The  words 
they  spoke,  their  teaching  as  preserved  in  the  Scriptures, 
is  their  successor,  and  stands  as  their  authority  in  the 
church  for  all  ages.  The  whole  body  of  believers,  which 
is  the  church,  acts  under  this  authority,  and  is  the  active 
agent  in  making  practical  application  of  it  in  all  depart- 
ments of  rule  and  Christian  work.  Gradually  the  church 
acquired  and  discharged  this  responsibility,  even  while 
the  apostles  lived,  and  were  plainly  meant  to  assume  the 
whole  of  it  after  their  death,  in  harmony  with  the  great 
principle  of  equality,  laid  down  by  Christ,  who  said: 
Call  no  man  rabbi,  father  or  master,  for  one  is  your 
teacher  and  master,even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren." 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  principle  does  not  rule  in 
ritualistic  churches.  The  clergy  constitutes  an  oligarchy, 
apart  from  lay-members,  as  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
where  the  pope  elects  the  cardinals,  and  cardinals  in  their 
turn  elect  the  pope,  and  together  they  elect  all  who  have 
orders  in  the  church.  Lay-members  have  nothing  to  do 
but  submit  to  them  as  teachers  and  masters,  supreme 
and  infallible. 

When  Christ  was  about  to  leave  his  disciples,  he 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  85 

promised  to  send  them  a  "  comforter  "  in  his  place — "  the 
Spirit  of  truth"  which  the  world  could  not  receive,  but 
only  those  that  were  in  sympathy  with  him.  It  should 
be  the  invisible  presence  in  place  of  the  visible  Savior. 
The  Roman  Catholics  have  materialized  this  invisible 
presence  in  the  Eucharist.  The  wafer  in  the  hands  of 
the  priest  is  transmuted  into  the  literal  body  of  Christ 
and  given  to  the  people,  that  they  may  in  eating  it  have 
Christ  in  them.  The  doctrine  is  worked  for  all  that  it  is 
worth,  and  everything  involved  in  it  is  fully  admitted,  as 
for  instance  in  the  following  quotation  from  a  Catholic 
authority,  which  is  but  the  echo  of  Catholic  writers  in 
general.  "  Every  day  multitudes  of  priests,  be  they  fer- 
vent, lukewarm  or  vicious,  it  is  the  same,  summon  him 
(Christ)  where  it  pleases  them,  give  him  to  whom  they 
will,  confine  him  under  lock  and  key,  and  dispose  of  him 
at  their  pleasure."  The  carnal  interpretation  with  its 
gross  materialism  could  go  no  farther  than  this.  One 
may  laugh  at  the  absurdity  or  cry  at  the  blasphemy  and 
folly  of  it  with  equal  reason.  Argument  would  be  out 
of  place.  The  irony  of  the  prophet  Esaiah  in  denouncing 
idolatry  would  be  appropriate,  his  language  need  hardly 
be  changed  to  be  applicable.  "  He  burned  part  thereof 
in  the  fire,  with  part  thereof  he  eated  flesh,  he  roasted 
roast  and  is  satisfied;  and  the  residue  thereof  he  maketh 
a  god,  he  falleth  down  unto  it  and  worshippeth  it,  and 
prayeth  unto  it,  and  saith  deliver  me  for  thou  art  my 
god.  He  feedeth  on  ashes,  a*deceived  heart  hath  turned 
him  aside,  that  he  cannot  deliver  his  soul,  nor  say,  is 
there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand."  ,But  it  must  be  ob- 
served about  this  interpretation  and  doctrine,  that  in 
common  with  all  the  doctrines  and  interpretations  of  the 
Catholic  Church  it  serves  the  purpose  of  the  priestly 

! 


86  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

oligarchy  wonderfully.  What  importance  must  be  at- 
tached to  the  priest  who  thus  has  the  Almighty  at  his 
disposal,  can  summon  him  at  his  will,  deal  him  about  to 
whom  he  will,  and  keep  him  under  lock  and  key  when 
not  wanted.  It  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  priests  a 
mighty  engine  for  securing  their  own  glorification,  and 
the  abject  homage  and  submission  of  the  masses. 

In  keeping  with  the  same  carnal  interpretation  of 
Christianity  is  ritualistic  worship.  St.  Paul  in  the  14th 
chapter  of  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  describes  a 
meeting  of  a  congregation  of  Christians,  such  as  he  ap- 
proved of  in  the  churches  he  organized.  It  is  strictly 
speaking,  a  meeting  of  brethren  upon  the  principle  of 
equality  laid  down  by  Christ,  where  all  might  prophesy, 
and  all  take  a  part  according  to  any  gift  or  grace  which 
they  might  possess,  subject  only  to  the  general  rule  that 
all  should  be  done  decently  and  in  order  and  serve  the 
purpose  of  edification.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  ritual- 
istic churches  have  no  meetings  or  worship  of  this  char- 
acter. In  their  churches  the  priest  appears  supreme, 
above  and  apart  from  the  congregation;  ceremonials  and 
sacraments  administered  by  the  priest  take  the  place  of 
mutual  edification.  The  word  "  sacrament"  is  not  in  the 
Bible,  literally  "holy  act."  Pronounced  in  a  foreign 
tongue,  it  is  invested  with  an  air  of  supernatural  import- 
ance, which  serves  well  the  purpose  of  the  priest.  This 
impression  is  enhanced  as  the  priest  appears  up  by  the 
altar,  arrayed  in  sacerdotargarments,  handling  the  sacred 
vessels,  performing  the  solemn  rites,  pronouncing  the 
magic  words,  whicli  are  supposed  to  possess  supernat- 
ural power.  The  congregation  meanwhile  as  awe-struck 
spectators  are  passive  recipients  of  the  priestly  ministra- 
tion.   This  as  we  suggested  may  serve  the  purpose  of 


Interpretation  and  Ritualism.  87 

the  priest,  but  it  is  not  what  St.  Paul  describes  as  Chris- 
tian worship  in  a  congregation  of  Christians. 

In  treating  of  this  subject  we  have  treated  of  a 
system  not  of  individuals;  if  individuals  are  better  than 
the  system  to  which  they  belong,  that.is  their  honor  and 
does  notjn  the  least  excuse  the  system.  But  upon  the 
whole,  the  ritualistic  system  finds  a  ready  response  in  the 
human  heart,  which  in  its  natural  state  is  carnal,  and 
more  than  willing  to  take  up  with  a  carnal  interpretation 
of  religion.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that 
the  mechanical  process  of  salvation  finds  many  adherents, 
it  is  a  broad  way  and  many  there  be  that  walk  therein. 
To  be  told  by  an  infallible  pope  orpriest  what  to  believe, 
suits  them  better  than  to  search  the  Scriptures  to  find 
what  the  Lord  requires.  To  be  put  through  the  process 
of  regeneration  by  priestly  baptism  is  easier  than  to  seek 
to  God  for  it  by  repentance  and  faith.  Communion 
with  God  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  personal  experience  is 
beyond  his  comprehension,  but  if  it  can  be  done  by 
eating  a  wafer  prepared  by  the  priest,  he  is  equal  to  it. 
The  confirmation  of  the  Christian  life  by  a  continual 
process  of  spiritual  discipline,  would  seem  a  tedious  af- 
fair, but  if  he  can  be  confirmed  once  for  all  by  a  priestly 
rite,  he  is  quite  willing.  To  love  God  with  all  the  heart, 
mind  and  strength,  appears  vague  and  perplexing,  but 
he  can  understand  this  feast-day  kept  and  that  fast  ob- 
served, so  much  of  tithes  for  the  priest;  a  cash  consider- 
ation paid  and  have  done  with  is  far  easier  than  a  spirit- 
ual obligation.  Faith  in  Christ  that  saves  and  transforms 
the  character  is  difficult,  but  faith  in  an  old  blackened 
bone  of  a  supposed  St.  Anne,  a  supposed  mother  of 
Mary,  of  whose  life,  death,  burial  and  bones  there  is  no 
record  anywhere,  faith  in  this  with  accompanying  machine 


88  Christianitv  and  Our  Times. 

miracles  is  as  natural  as  anything.  To  be  told  by  Christ 
to  strive  earnestly  to  enter  the  strait  gate  by  personal 
effort  and  personal  holiness  appears  most  wearisome,  but 
if  he  can  buy  sanctification  of  the  priest  during  life,  and 
be  by  him  put  through  the  strait  gate  at  the  last  moment 
by  holy  oil  and  general  absolution,  he  is  content  to  go 
to  heaven.  Why  should  he  weary  himself  with  life-long 
preparations  for  what  can  be  done  at  the  last  moment 
by  the  priest.  It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  even 
the  Catholic  Church  has  had  some  misgivings  about  the 
completeness  of  this  mechanical  product,  for  they  have 
invented  a  purgatory  to  finish  it. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CREED  AND  DISCIPLINE. 

"Of  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things 
to  draw  away  disciples  after  them . — Hold  fast  the 
form  of  sound  words." — Paul. 

Why  the  creeds  of  Christendom  are  many  while  Christ 
and  his  Gospel  are  one,  is  a  question  often  asked.  While 
it  is  unfortunate  that  there  should  be  any  occasion  for  it, 
it  is  not  in  itself  very  perplexing  in  the  light  of  general 
experience,  for  we  know  how  difficult  it  is  for  men  to 
arrive  at  precisely  the  same  conclusion  on  any  important 
question.  Among  Christians,  worthy  the  name,  there 
may  be  said  to  be  practical  unanimity  in  regard  to  the 
essential  doctrines.  Much  schism  has  been  caused  by 
undue  stress  upon  details;  also  by  medling  with  speculative 
questions  that  are  not  necessarily  part  of  the  faith. 
Mercenary  motives  have  had  their  share  in  creating  er- 
rors and  divisions;  love  of  party,  power  and  pleasures, 
have  placed  definitions  upon  the  Word  of  God,  that 
would  make  a  heathen  blush.  The  many  creeds  of 
Christendom  are  not  therefore  due  to  any  inherent 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  Bible,  but  to  cupidity 
and  lack  of  spiritual  insight,  to  man's  general  infirmi- 
ties in  part,  and  to  his  willful  depravity  largely. 

The  oneness  of  Christendom  is  no  doubt  a  consum- 
mation devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  but  after  all,  it  is  but 


go  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

a  circumstance  about  Christianity,  and  not  the  thing  it- 
self. Our  Savior  prayed  for  the  oneness  of  the  church. 
He  must  have  taken  its  existence  for  granted,  before  he 
could  pray  that  it  might  be  one.  In  praying  for  his 
disciples  that  they  might  be  one,  he  acknowledged  that 
they  might  be  disciples  in  fact,  even  though  they  were 
not  one  in  a  visible  union.  He  prayed  for  the  visible 
union  of  his  followers,  the  spiritual  union  could  not  be 
prayed  for  as  a  contingency;  for  disciples  cannot  be 
such  in  fact,  unless  they  have  the  same  Spirit  of  Christ, 
and  are  therefore  spiritually  one.  What  Christ  prayed 
for  was  a  circumstance  that  would  greatly  increase  the 
efficiency  and  power  of  the  church  in  the  world— as  we 
see  of  his  words  "  that  the  world  may  know" — not  there- 
fore that  the  church  and  Christianity  might  have  an  exist- 
ence, for  that  was  taken  as  granted,  but  that  the  world 
might  have  additional  proof,  be  the  more  impressed, 
easier  convinced,  and  also  that  the.church  itself  might 
be  saved  from  trouble. 

Christ,  in  praying,  prayed  for  his  disciples,  those 
that  were  such  in  fact,  by  virtue  of  his  spirit  and  faith. 
Without  such  there  can  be  no  true  church.  Those  that 
are  not  such  w^ere  not  prayed  for,  and  we  conceive  it  is 
indifferent  to  Christ  whether  they  are  one  or  twenty. 
How  many  of  the  professed  Christians  of  Christendom 
come  within  the  scope  of  Christ's  prayer,  is  not  a  ques 
tion  to  be  argued,  but  it  is  only  those  that  have  his 
spirit  and  keep  his  word.  When  those  of  which  this 
can  7zot  be  said  boast  of  their  unity  by  virtue  of  the 
same  external  circumstances  and  church  machinery, 
they  make  that  the  essential,  which  is  but  a  circum- 
stance, though  a  very  important  one.  Regeneration  by 
God's  Spirit  is  the  basis  of  a  Christian  character,  and 


Creed  and  Discipline.  91 

those  that  possess  this  character  are  the  church.  Vis- 
ible union  may  be  regarded  as  the  top-stone  rather 
than  the  basis.  Those  who  make  unity  the  basis,  invert 
the  pyramid,  they  begin  with  the  top-stone  and  end 
with  nothing. 

The  unification  of  the  different  sects  of  Christen- 
dom has  of  late  been  seen  in  the  light  of  its  importance, 
and  been  subject  to  much  discussion.  Plans  for  bring- 
ing about  the  desired  result  have  been  proposed.  The 
need  of  a  general  conversion  of  nominal  Christians  be- 
fore any  consistent  union  could  be  brought  about,  has 
some  times  been  pointed  out,  but  more  generally  lost  sight 
of.  It  is  not,  however,  certain  that  even  this  would 
secure  visible  union,  for  natural  infirmities  might  still 
prevent  it.  It  is  certain  that  it  would  greatly  facilitate 
such  union.  A  basis  for  union  is  suggested  by  the 
Catholic  Church:  the  absolute  rule  of  one  person,  to 
which*the  conscience  and  reason  of  all  must  bend.  If 
unity  is  the  one  thing  above  all  things  to  be  desired, 
then  this  plan  should  receive  serious  consideration,  for 
the  success  of  it  in  the  Catholic  Church  is  n^anifest. 
VVc  prefer  disunion  rather  than  union  on  this  plan,  for 
the  same  reason  that  we  prefer  a  live  body,  although 
subject  to  disorders,  to  a  spiritual  corpse,  however  quiet 
and  easily  ruled. 

Another  basis  is  urged  with  great  vehemence  now- 
adays, it  is  that  of  "breadth."  It  is  not  quite  clear 
where  the  real  basis  is,  or  where  we  are  to  look  for  the 
solid  rock,  for  even  the  most  liberal  would  hardly  want 
to  build  on  quicksand.  Something  solid  must  be  pre- 
supposed, in  spite  of  their  own  utterances,  which  would 
not  warrant  so  charitable  a  view  of  their  propositions. 
'The  terms  "broad  basis,"  *' liberal  views,"  coupled  with 


92  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

progress  of  some  kind,  is  too  indefinite  to  determine 
with  nice  accuracy  what  is  meant.  All  that  we  are 
made  sure  of,  is,  that  the  basis  must  be  very  broad  and 
Hberal  so  as  to  include  all,  or  as  many  as  possible.  That 
it  would  be  possible  to  include  all,  or  even  man}^  could 
not,  however,  be  hoped  for,  unless  we  could  convince 
them  equally  with  ourselves  that  a  very  broad  and  lib- 
eral basis  is  the  thing.  We  might  fling  our  doors  wide 
open  for  all,  but  what  if  they  would  not  come.  We  might 
assure  them  that  they  were  welcome  to  stand  with  us  on 
the  common  broad  basis,  that  there  js  nothing  in  them 
that  we  object  to.  They  might  make  this  very  thing 
their  objection,  our  general  indifference  and  indefinitc- 
ness. 

This  basis  of  "breadth"  could  not  hang  in  the  air, 
it  would  have  to  settle  somewhere,  probably  it  would 
find  a  natural  resting-place  in  agnosticism.  This,  if  it 
is  also  somewhat  indefinite,  is  at  least  a  fixed  quantity  in 
that  it  is  a  plain  profession  of  doubt  and  suspense.  The 
attitude  of  the  agnostic  is  not  without  interest  and  a  cer- 
tain fascination;  to  be  able  to  stand  aside  from  the  re- 
ligious quarrels  and  disputes,  and  view  them  with  the  air 
of  one  who  may  be  interested  but  not  concerned,  is  an 
enviable  position  if  it  can  be  honestly  maintained.  If, 
moreover,  he  has  the  feeling  that  he  is  above  this  clamor 
and  noise  because  he  knows  better^^^it  must  be  to  him  a  ' 
source  of  pride  and  gratification.  He  may  with  a  good 
deal  of  satisfaction  congratulate  himself  that  he  "  is  not 
in  it."  But  then  the  question  arises;  what  if  he  after  all 
is  in  it  in  spite  of  himself.  He  acknowledges  that  there 
may  be  a  God  to  whom  he  sustains  responsible  relation 
and  that  something  or  a  great  deal  may  be  involved  in 
this  relation;  only  he  does  not  know.    Is  his  position 


Creed  and  Discipline.  93 

after  all  consistent  or  can  it  be  harmonized  with  reason? 
Is  it  at  all  possible  that  there  could  be  a  God  towards 
whom  we  sustain  a  responsible  relation,  with  much  in- 
volved, unless  this  God  has  revealed  it  to  us  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  to  make  us  without  excuse  if  we  fail  to 
recognize  it?  Suppose  a  ruler  should  make  laws  or  de- 
crees, and  hold  his  subjects  responsible  for  their  observ- 
ance but  fail  to  promulgate  his  laws  so  they  might  be 
known.  Or  suppose  a  father  to  hold  his  children  re- 
sponsible for  the  doing  of  his  will,  but  does  not  reveal 
his  will  to  them  with  sufficient  clearness  for  them  to  un- 
derstand. In  the  revelation  of  God  to  men,  we  perceive 
a  nice  balance  between  what  is  sufficient  and  what  would 
overpower  the  will.  But  if  God  has  made  no  revelation 
to  us  of  his  will,  then  we  may  say  freely  that  there  is  no 
God;  or  that  we  do  not  sustain  any  relation  to  him, 
which  amounts  to  the  same. 

But  if  agnosticism  is  not  meant  by  the  demand  for  a 
broad  basis,  then  it  will  probably  be  allowed  that  in  spite 
of  the  utmost  liberality  there  is  yet  something  that  must 
be  insisted  upon,  that  the  basis  if  ever  so  broad  must  be 
sound.  If  this  is  the  idea,  then  there  must  at  least  be  a 
limit  to  the  breadth  of  our  basis,  and  our  boasted  liberal- 
ity will  have  to  end  somewhere.  The  question  then  is 
the  same  as  ever — where  is  the  limit,  what  must  we  in- 
sist upon?  Even  our  new  departure  would  not  allow 
that  anything  false  or  wrong  should  be  allowed  on  the 
ground  we  stand  upon;  so  we  arc  back  to  precisely  the 
old  ground,  for  there  are  none  but  avow  themselves  lib- 
eral enough  to  include  all  the  truth,  and  even  our  most 
liberal  friends  would  not  knowingly  include  anything 
more.  But  everything  is  not  truth,  as  all  will  admit, 
here  is  the  check  upon  our  liberality.  If  our  basis  stretch 


94  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

beyond  the  truth,  it  is  too  broad;  if  it  is  confined  to  less 
it  is  too  narrow.  We  may,  therefore,  be  in  fault  as  well 
one  way  as  the  other.  If  we  choose  a  basis  because  it  is 
broad  we  use  a  hap-hazard  method  just  as  much  as  if  we 
choose  it  because  it  is  narrow.  Reasonably  we  can 
choose  as  a  basis  of  faith  only  what  we  believe  to  be 
truth,  nothing  more  and  nothing  less,  be  it  either  broad 
or  narrow,  or  be  it  impossible  to  apply  either  adjective  to 
it.  The  only  reason  we  can  have  to  glory  in  our  faith, 
or  the  basis  of  it,  is  the  assurance  that  it  is  founded  on 
truth. 

We  would  not  sacrifice  Christianity  for  the  sake  of 
the  Church  and  its  unity.  We  would  not  have  the  way 
broad  as  the  road  to  perdition  for  the  sake  of  having 
everybody  walk  with  us.  This  indefinite  talk  about 
breadth  and  liberality,  is  but  the  meaningless  rattle  of 
muddled  heads  and  godless  hearts.  But  it  is  evident, 
that  a  great  deal  of  unity  might  be  effected  among  Pro- 
testants, without  sacrificing  any  principle  of  faith  and 
practice.  The  differences  between  the  principal  evan- 
gelical sects  do  not  concern  themselves  about  essentials, 
and  this  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being  understood.  The  precise 
way  in  which  to  administer  the  rite  of  baptism,  is  not 
now  considered  sufficient  cause  for  quarrel;  most  evan- 
gelical sects  are  willing  to  have  it  administered  in  any 
way  that  suits  the  applicant.  In  the  same  way  with 
the  doctrine  of  predestination,  peculiar  to  the  Presby- 
terian creed,  it  is  scarcely  ever  now  made  an  object*  of 
dispute.  It  is  kept  in  the  background,  for  even  those 
who  hold  it  theoretically,  know  that  it  does  not  work 
well  in  practice,  when  appealing  to  free  moral  agents. 
It  might  be  held  as  it  is  now,  without  interferring  with 
fellowship  and  union.    But  even  if  the  best  could  be 


Creed  and  Discipline.  95 

done  in  the  way  of  union  among  professed  Christians, 
three  distinct  divisions  would  be  demanded  by  funda- 
mental principles  of  faith.  The  Catholics  would  have  to 
constitute  one  distinct  body,  and  the  Protestants  would 
have  to  be  divided  between  Ritualists  and  Evangelicals. 
There  would  be  besides  these,  a  distinct  religious  body, 
composed  of  Unitarians  and  those  allied  to  them  in 
faith,  the  Liberals  of  the  new  departure.  These  are 
practically  one  in  belief,  and  would  work  together  with- 
out any  jar  or  disputes;  reason  demands  that  they  should, 
and  they  might  fill  the  want  of  a  certain  class  of  people. 
They  could  not  consistently  be  included  among  Chris- 
tians; their  Christ  and  Christianity  is  of  their  own 
making. 

Among  the  most  sanguine  of  believers  in  the  pro- 
gressiveness  of  our  age,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  predict 
a  time  near  at  hand  when  even  Protestants  and  Catho- 
lics shall  be  united  in  one  body.  If  such  indeed  could 
happen,  it  would  be  the  most  stupendous  and  far-reach- 
ing event  of  the  age.  Those  who  know  what  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  bodies  ha^  meant  in  the  past, 
what  it  means  now,  and  may  mean  in  the  future,  will 
fully  admit  this.  But  could  this  result  be  imagined 
brought  about  by  any  process,  some  revolutionary 
change  would  have  to  take  place  in  the  Catholic 
Church  before  it  could  be  at  all  possible. 

We  might  imagine  the  Catholic  Church  coming  to 
herself  like  the  prodigal,  and  asking  seriously — "  What 
after  all  is  Christianity,  what  did  Christ  teach?"  She 
might  call  a  council  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  this 
question.  It  ought  not  in  itself  to  be  very  difficult  to 
decide,  seeing  all  the  information  we  have  on  the  subject 
is  found  in  the  New  Testament,  and  comprises  only  a 


g6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

few  hours  reading.  She  would  have  to  confine  herself  to 
this  information.  She  would  have  to  break  with  the 
past;  this  ought  not  to  be  hard,  for  it  has  been  cruel 
and  bloody  beyond  description.  She  would  have  to 
throw  aside  the  rubbish  of  false  interpretations,  imposi- 
tions and  folly  accumulated  through  ages;  neither  ought 
this  be  very  hard,  for  some  of  the  popes  and  their  tools 
were  among  the  worst  of  men,  as  Catholics  will  admit, 
and  their  definitions  and  doctrines  foisted  upon  the 
church  are  moral  monstrosities  and  intellectual  absurd- 
ities. But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  human  na- 
ture, with  all  that  it  implies.  A  going  back  to  the  New 
Testament  would  touch  self-interests,  power  and  pride. 
And  we  have  to  admit  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  the 
result  anticipated.  The  spirit  of  the  middle  ages  rules  in 
the  ruling  portion  of  the  Catholic  Church  with  as  much 
malignity  as  it  ever  did.  By  the  ruling  portion  we  under- 
stand the  ecclesiastic  machine  and  the  fanatical  masses 
behind  it.  Of  course,  there  are  good  Catholics  in  the 
true  sense,  liberal  Catholics  and  infidel  Catholics;  these 
classes,  made  up  of  4;he  more  intelligent,  support  a  lib- 
eral government  in  nearly  all  Catholic  countries  at  pres- 
ent; how  long  they  will  be  able  to  keep  themselves  in 
power  is  a  question  of  great  interest. 

It  is  not  therefore  that  the  Protestant  Church  could 
not  be  induced  to  shake  hands  with  the  Catholic  across 
the  bloody  chasm  of  millions  martyred  and  millions  slain. 
We  could,  if  those  hands  were  cleansed  by  repentance 
and  reformation,  but  they  are  yet  red  with  the  blood  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  murders,  that  have  never  been  re- 
pented of,  nor  abhorred,  nor  regretted.  Intolerance 
survived  among  the  Protestants,  as  did  other  Catholic 
errors,  for  some  time  after  the  reformation,  but  the  spirit 


Creed  and  Discipline.  97 

of  the  reformation  is  against  it,  it  fell  naturally,  and  is 
now  repudiated  and  abhorred  by  all  Protestant  denomi- 
nations. It  has  never  been  repudiated  by  the  Catholic 
Church;  they  may  well  boast  of  unchangeable  principles, 
and  of  them  all  there  is  none  more  unchangeable  than 
that  of  conformity  or  extermination.  For  a  thousand 
years  she  upheld  this  principle  with  fire  and  sword,  and 
at  an  estimated  cost  of  fifty  millions  of  human  lives.  She 
clung  to  it  with  the  tenacity  of  a  thirty  years  war  in  Ger- 
many, and  nearly  a  century  of  wars  in  Holland,  and  force 
alone  prevented  her  from  carrying  it  out  to  the  total  sup- 
pression of  Protestantism. 

But  after  all,  this  exhibition  of  the  depravity  of  hu- 
man nature,  is  only  an  example  on  a  large  scale  of  what 
we  see  illustrated  every  day  around  us.  We  know  with 
what  energy  and  tenacity  even  the  smallest  trust  or 
monopoly  will  fight  for  their  special  privileges,  their  ex- 
clusive rights.  The  Catholic  Church  is  a  monopoly  on 
a  gigantic  scale.  She  claims  the  special  privilege,  the 
sole  right  of  saving  the  souls  of  men.  This  to  her  has 
been  profitable  business,  and  in  her  way  of  doing  it,  not 
hard  work.  In  it  is  involved  her  claim  upon  the  civil 
power  to  enforce  her  laws  and  impose  her  penalties,  not 
relinquished,  although  not  complied  with  to  the  same  ex- 
tent as  in  the  middle  -ages.  There  is  involved  in  it  that 
claim  to  supremacy  over  all  things,  civil  and  religious, 
which  the  Catholic  Church  has  never  withdrawn.  What 
the  church  is  fighting  for,  and  has  fought  for  with  a  des- 
peration that  has  trampled  upon  every  claim  of  humanity, 
is  not  some  particular  religious  creed,  it  is  this  monopoly 
with  its  immense  interests  of  wordly  power,  wealth  and 
homage.  It  is  the  fear  of  losing  this,  that  fired  her  zeal 
and  frenzied  her  heart  at  the  mere  sight  of  a  Bible  in  the 

I 


98  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

hands  of  a  layman,  that  made  her  stir  all  Christendom  to 
wipe  out  in  flame  and  blood  even  the  least  indication  of 
rebellion  against  her  authority.  Does  anyone  doubt  that 
she  is  still  fighting  for  her  monopoly,  her  special  privi- 
lege and  exclusive  right.  She  is  fighting  for  it  with  all 
the  weapons  of  spiritual  and  carnal  warfare,  openly  or  in 
the  dark,  under  the  guise  of  friendship  or  undisguised 
as  an  enemy,  and  if  anybody  thinks  she  will  quit  doing 
it,  he  knows  but  little  of  human  nature. 

But  what  of  the  countless  masses  that  uphold  her 
power  and  submit  to  her  control.  It  is  not  so  much  that 
they  are  ignorant,  but  they  are  interested  in  getting  their 
souls  saved  as  cheaply  as  possible.  The  Catholic  Church 
offers  them  salvation  on  terms  favorable  to  human  nature; 
on  easy  terms,  so  to  speak,  for  what  after  all  is  fixed 
tribute  and  rules,  feasting,  fasting,  and  ceremony,  com- 
pared with  intelligent,  personal,  heart  and  soul  effort. 
The  masses  upon  the  whole  consider  that  they  have  a 
good  bargain  of  it.  If  anyone  doubts,  let  him  read 
history,  or  notice  a  Catholic  mob,  in  some  of 
our  cities.  If  anyone  should  dare  to  tell  these 
masses  that  their  priests  deceive  them;  that  they  are  un- 
able to  fulfill  their  promises,  or  make  good  their  bar- 
gains, we  have  the  rage  of  the  mob,  the  frenzy  of  St. 
Bartholomew  and  a  thousand  horrors.  An  all  important 
salvation  to  be  secured  and  an  easy  way  of  securing  it, 
is  a  principle  in  religion  and  not  to  be  trifled  with. 

Reforms  in  the  Catholic  Church  can  only  be  super- 
ficial improvements  of  local  or  temporary  character, 
there  can  be  no  permanent  or  effectual  reform.  The 
roots  of  all  evil  are  found  in  her  organization  and  princi- 
ples, and  they  will  be  apt  to  spring  up  and  bear  their 
legitimate  fruit  under  any  favorable  circumstances,  and 


Creed  and  Discipline.  99 

what  that  is,  history  fully  informs  us.  Some  would  dis- 
tinguish between  the  religious  and  political  capacity  of 
the  church,  and  oppose  her  in  one  capacity  while  not  in 
the  other.  The  church  itself  knows  no  such  distinction. 
The  doctrines  and  interpretations  of  the  Catholic  Church 
have  this  peculiarity,  that  they  are  made  and  maintained 
with  special  reference  to  her  political  or  worldly  power. 
They  are  but  the  foundation  stones  on  which  rests  the 
tremendous  superstructure  of  worldly  interests  of  all 
kinds.  Does  anyone  imagine  that  the  Catholic  Church 
would  strenuously  insist  on  her  interpretation  of  a  cer- 
tain passage  connected  with  the  apostle  Peter,  and 
coupled  with  the  invention  that  he  was  the  first  pope  at 
Rome,  unless  it  precisely  suited  her  purpose  of  worldly 
powerand  control.  Where  the  selfish  design  is  so  manifest, 
to  argue  is  folly.  The  doctrine  of  mass  and  purgatory, 
what  is  it,  but  a  most  ingenious  scheme  for  levying  trib- 
ute. How  well  does  the  doctrine  of  the  "  real  presence" 
serve  to  secure  homage  and  superstitious  regard.  The 
opportunities  of  the  confessional  as  means  of  power  and 
control  is  notorious.  How  much  in  her  system  serve  in- 
directly the  same  purpose  by  appealing  to  the  intellectual 
and  spiritual  sloth  of  perverted  human  nature.  As  with 
her  doctrine  so  with  her  discipline,  no  one  is  ever  ex- 
pelled on  any  moral  ground,  but  let  them  in  any  way 
question  the  authority  on  which  rests  her  political  or 
worldly  power,  they  are  at  once  pronounced  worthless 
and  got  rid  of.  If  the  clergy  of  many  Catholic  countries 
are  dissolute  and  greedy  to  a  degree  of  audacity,  and  the 
people  degraded,  ignorant  and  foolish,  it  never  causes  a 
ripple  of  agitation  or  discontent  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber,  as  long  as  they  do  not  dispute  the  authority  of 
the  church. 


loo  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


Among  Protestants,  the  Episcopalians  have  of  late 
been  forward  with  plans  for  union,  and  among  them 
more  especially  the  extreme  ritualists.  Some  of  their 
efforts  and  propositions  are  amusing  because  so  appar- 
ently innocent.  They  do  not  seem  to  perceive  that  the 
difference  between  them  and  the  Evangelicals,  is  anything 
more  than  a  matter  of  ceremony,  succession  and  the  lay- 
ing on  of  hands.  But  the  difference  between  regenera- 
tion and  church  membership  by  priestly  rite  and  cere- 
mony, and  the  same  by  a  spiritual  change  in  character, 
realized  by  personal  experience,  and  manifest  by  its  fruit 
is  fundamental  and  cannot  be  bridged  over  by  mutual 
concessions.  The  Evangelicals  must  first  forget  what  is 
fundamental  in  their  faith,  and  what  caused  their  separa- 
tion from  the  state  churches,  before  they  can  unite  on  a 
basis  of  ceremony  and  circumstance.  Aside  from  this, 
we  may  readily  admit  that  the  difference  practically  is 
not  so  great  as  theoretically,  for  ritualists  are  not  neces- 
sarily confined  in  their  spiritual  aspirations  to  what  their 
system  affords,  while  among  Evangelicals  competition 
coupled  with  an  ambition  for  numbers  and  popularity, 
often  betray  them  into  laxity  of  discipline.  But  as  to 
the  respective  systems,  it  is  the  difference  between  the 
carnal  and  spiritual  interpretation  of  Christianity.*  The 
one  is  a  creation  of  the  civil  power,  whether  in  the 
hands  of  popes  or  kings;  the  other,  in  its  inception,  was 
the  return  to  the  Christianity  of  the  Bible,  by  men  who 
had  a  true  understanding  of  it. 

A  creed  or  church  discipline  is  not  a  substitute  for, 
nor  a  supplement  to  the  Word  of  God;  it  is  a  means  of 
keeping  the  church  pure  and  orderly.  The  church  would 
have  no  need  of  creed  or  discipline  if  it  were  sure  to  have 


Creed  and  Discipline.  ioi 

to  do  with  none  but  honest,  intelligent  and  spiritual 
Christians,  It  is  the  law  or  rule  of  the  church,  but  as 
St.  Paul  says,  the  law  is  not  meant  for  the  righteous  but 
for  the  unrighteous.  The  church  is  sure  to  have  to  do 
with  such  as  need  law  and  rule  to  restrain  and  guide. 
There  will  be  such  as  would  "  pervert  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,"  those  that  "  creep  in  unawares" — having  hot  the 
faith,"  those  that  would  make  godliness  an  occasion  of 
gain,"  and  others  who  "having  left  their  first  love"  be- 
gan to  give  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of 
devils — vainly  puffed  up  by  their  fleshly  mind" — unto 
whom  the  Word  of  God  soon  becomes  distasteful,  who 
will  be  tempted  by  a  love  of  notoriety  and  popularity  to 
make  innovations  in  conformity  to  worldly  taste.  Such 
as  have  theories  of  their  own  they  wish  to  circulate,  and 
for  this  purpose  would  make  use  of  the  church.  Unless 
the  church  has  the  means  of  getting  rid  of  all  such  easy 
and  effectually,  it  would  in  time  disintegrate  and  become 
shapeless  as  well  as  helpless. 

But  it  may  be  said;  has  not  the  church  the  Bible, 
which  is  the  supreme  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  why  not 
judge  all  offenders  by  this  supreme  standard.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  elsewhere  that  the  Bible  is  not  written 
in  the  form  of  a  law  book,  and  was  not  meant  to  deal 
with  those  who  are  dishonest,  conceited  and  unruly. 
Interpretations  of  the  Bible  may  be  made  to  serve  selfish 
interests  or  spiritual  blindness.  For  this  reason  the 
church  must  define  her  doctrine,  forbid  lawless  interpre- 
tation, and  have  rules  and  discipline  for  bringing  offend- 
ers to  account. 

A  loose  definition  is  of  no  value  in  dealing  with 
offenders.  Suppose  we  make  "  faith  in  Christ"  the  con- 
dition for  church  fellowship;  tjie  Christ  might  be  any- 


102 


Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


thing  from  the  "good  man  "of  the  Unitarians  to  "  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father,''  the  faith  might  be  either 
dead  or  alive,  it  might  be  everything  or  nothing.  Or 
suppose  we  make  "  love  to  God  "  the  condition;  the  love 
might  be  a  mere  sympathetic  impulse,  or  it  might  be  a 
ruling  principle.  God  might  be  the  God  of  providence  and 
the  Bible,  or  he  might  be  "  the  soul  of  the  universe" 
toward  whom  we  sustain  no  relation.  It  has  become 
increasingly  necessary  to  have  strict  definitions,  and  firm 
rules  to  enforce  them,  for  modern  heretics  may  and  do 
freely  subscribe  to  any  creed  or  to  any  view  of  the  Bible, 
knowing  that  they  may  depend  upon  their  ingenuity  to 
put  an  interpretation  upon  it  that  will  enable  them  to 
hold  the  opposite  of  what  is  literally  expressed.  In  such 
cases  the  church  must  insist  upon  her  own  interpretation 
and  upon  honesty  on  the  part  of  those  that  subscribe  to 
her  creed.  Unless  the  church  had  power  and  disposi- 
tion to  deal  with  this  kind  of  cases,  it  would  become  a 
bundle  of  inconsistencies,  a  conglomeration  of  every  kind 
of  belief  and  unbelief. 

We  are  being  told  by  the  leaders  of  the  new  de- 
parture, reassuringly,  in  the  words  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
that  "  that  error  is  dangerless  if  truth  is  left  free  to  com- 
bat it."  This  may  or  may  not  be  true,  but  at  any  rate, 
the  church  should  not  be  battle  ground  for  the  combat. 
She  is  not  an  institution  for  the  pugilistic  encounter  of 
truth  and  error,  furnishing  both  with  a  free  asylum,  and 
the  spectators  with  a  free  show.  The  church  was  meant 
to  be  an  asylum  for  truth  alone;  she  was  meant  to  be 
"the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"  to  uphold  it  and 
equip  it  for  conquest.  She  is  under  no  obligation  to 
give  error  the  same  privilege,  and  no  appeal  on  the 
ground  of  breadth  and  lib^erality  should  induce  the  church 


Creed  and  Discipline.  103 

to  act  as  a  disinterested  mother  and  protector  to  both, 
anxious  to  give  them  an  equal  chance.  Error  belongs 
to  what  Christ  calls  "  the  world."  The  world  will  take  care 
of  its  own,  there  is  no  fear  but  what  it  will  be  equipped 
and  given  a  chance. 

A  state  of  conflicting  opinions,  doubt,  suspense  and 
speculation,  is  the  proper  and  inevitable  state  of  the  ir- 
religious world  outside  the  church.  It  is  so  conceived 
of  and  described  in  the  Word  of  God.  But  the  church 
is  supposed  to  consist  of  Christians,  and  Christians  are 
supposed  to  have  settled  convictions  as  to  faith  and  duty, 
even  to  a  degree  of  assurance  that  can  say  as  the  apostle 
does,  "  we  know."  A  faith  and  assurance,  founded  not 
merely  on  historical  evidence,  but  on  personal  experience 
and  realization  of  the  power  of  the  truth  of  which  they  pro- 
fess to  have  become  convinced.  A  church  that  is  non- 
committal as  to  faith  and  doctrine,  that  has  no  settled 
convictions,  cannot,  according  to  the  New  Testament, 
be  called  a  church;  they  had  better  disband,  take  their 
place  with  the  world,  first  settle  their  doubts  and  de- 
termine what  they  believe,  and  not  make  a  profession  of 
faith  till  they  can  answer  in  the  affirmative  that  question 
an  apostle  once  put  to  a  candidate  for  baptism,  "  If  thou 
believest  with  all  thine  heart  thou  mayest." 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  settled  plan  in  operation 
the  last  forty  years  to  bring  about  the  present  apostasy. 
The  process  has  been  gradual  and  the  development  sys- 
tematic. To  sow  the  seed  of  error  and  make  it  grow, 
there  must  first  be  a  breaking  up  of  the  doctrines  and 
settled  convictions  of  the  church;  this  has  been  accom- 
plished by  an  incessant  uproar  about  dogma,  theology 
and  anything  except  the  cloudy  phantasm  of  doubt  and 
suspense.    After  the  leaven  of  this  invidious  clamor  had 


104  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

worked  a  while,  and  a  sentiment  had  been  created  in  the 
church  that  took  pride  in  saying  "we  do  not  know,"  in- 
stead of  the  apostolic  "  we  know,"  there  was  a  bold  at- 
tack upon  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  and  its  essential 
doctrines.  We  were  told,  in  effect,  that  while  the  fruits 
of  Christianity  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  the*  roots 
might  very  well  be  rooted  up  and  the  stem  left  to 
decay.  What  does  it  matter  as  we  have  the  fruit.  This 
view  has  been  enthusiastically  accepted  by  a  portion  of 
the  churches. 

The  trend  of  modern  Liberalism  is  the  opposite  of 
the  assurance  of  faith  spoken  of  in  the  Bible.  To  the 
Liberals,  Christianity  is  something  yet  to  be  constructed 
by  "modern  scholarship,"  or  evolved  by  evolution, 
rather  than  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints," 
and  permanently  settled  by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  The 
withering  sco^  n,  with  which  Christ  and  St.  Paul  spoke 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  scholarship  in  their  days,  may  be 
understood  when  we  notice  the  arrogancy  and  self-con- 
ceit of  what  go  by  that  name  nowadays.  Hid' from  the 
wise  and  prudent,"  says  Christ,  "and  revealed  unto 
babes";  "counting themselves  wise  they  became  fools," 
says  St.  Paul,  and  "the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolish- 
ness with  God."  Infidelity  under  the  guise  of  "modern 
scholarship"  is  very  much  like  infidelity  under  any  other 
name. 

Faith  may  exist  in  connection  with  some  error,  as 
goodness  may  exist  in  spite  of  some  faults,  but  neither 
error  nor  faults  can  exist,  even  in  the  least  degree,  with- 
out harm  or  damage.  Even  as  Christ  taught,  "Who 
therefore  shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments, 
and  shall  teach  man  so, — teach  the  least  error,  he  may 
be  saved  in  spite  of  it,  but  he  shall  be  least."  When 


Creed  and  Discipline.  105 

error  becomes  presumptuous  and  fundamental,  and  when 
faults  develop  into  willful  evil-doing,  there  is  an  end  of 
excuses,  and  the  duty  of  the  church  is  plain.  She  must 
purge  out  the  leaven  of  false  doctrines  and  unrighteous- 
ness. Modern  heretics  never  weary  of  stirring  up  strife 
and  confusion  about  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Bible  itself.  When  called  to  order,  they  tell  us  piously, 
that  we  are  neglecting  our  work  for  the  sake  of  doc- 
trine and  controversy.  They  seemingly  claim  a  monopoly 
'of  this,  and  it  might  be  accorded  them  if  they  would 
take  their  proper  place  in  exercising  it.  The  time  is 
long  past,  when  the  churches  had  a  disposition  to  strain 
at  a  gnat,  now  they  are  more  apt  to  swallow  both  gnat 
and  camel.  The  prevailing  zeal  of  the  churches  is  not 
for  strict  doctrine,  but  for  numbers  and  popularity. 
Heretics  do  not  receive  attention,  unless  they  attack  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  faith,  and  not  even  then  un- 
less* they  are  very  pronounced  and  arrogant.  Attacks 
on  the  authority  and  infallibility  of  the  Bible  involve  all 
that  we  know  or  believe  about  Christianity;  there  is  no 
source  of  information  outside  of  it.  If  this  can  be  proved 
to  be  unreliable,  then  it  can  be  shown  that  we  know 
nothing  certain  about  what  we  profess,  and  we  are  back  to 
the  basis  of  paganism  for  faith  and  morals,  namely,  phi- 
losophy and  human  nature,  or  the  compound  of  both 
which  go  by  the  name  of  reason.  The  Bible  sinks  to 
the  level  of  ordinary  books;  we  may  go  to  it  for  help 
and  inspiration,  in  our  effort  to  find  out  what  is  faith 
and  duty,  as  we  would  go  to  Plato  or  Seneca,  Shake- 
speare or  Tennyson,  but  it  can  offer  us  only  sugges- 
tions. It  is  not  the  special  revelation  direct  from  God,  to 
which  human  passions  and  prejudices,  speculations  and 
imaginations  must  submit  as  the  final  authority.  We 


io6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

have  conceded  all  that  infidelity  ever  contended  for,  for 
infidels  are  willing  to  accept  the  Bible  as  good,  and  some 
of  its  teaching  as  "beautiful,"  if  they  can  be  allowed  the 
selective  process  in  dealing  with  it,  and  subject  it  to  their 
views  and  notions.  They  are  willing  to  accept  of  Christ 
in  the  same  sense,  making  of  him  what  they  will.  There 
are  in  this  case  no  infidels,  nor  any  quarrel  between  the 
two  parties.  If  Christians  have  been  slow  to  perceive 
this,  infidels  have  seen  it  clearly  from  the  start,  hence 
the  incessant  clamor  and  uproar  in  favor  of  the  newtheol- 
ogy.  A  shout  of  jubilee  has  gone  up  all  along  the  lines 
of  infidelity  ever  since  the  movement  took  definite  form, 
and  all  seculardom  has  rejoiced  with  the  joy  described 
in  the  book  of  Revelations,  when  the  two  Witnesses  that 
were  very  troublesome,  were  at  last  killed;  so  much  as 
to  cause  one  to  believe  Luther  was  right,  when  he  made 
out  the  two  Witnesses  to  be  the  New  and  Old  Testament. 
But  seculardom  did  not  allow  the  dead  bodies  to  be  laid 
in  their  graves;  oh,  no,  after  they  have  been  stripped  of 
life  and  authority,  they  may  well  be  allowed,  for  is  there 
not  much  that  is  "beautiful"  in  them.  But,  after  all,  is 
there  anything  in  or  about  religion  that  the  world,  the 
flesh  and  the  devil  hates  and  fears,  except  this  same  open 
Bible,  not  dead,  but  alive  with  authority. 

The  New  Testament  has  a  great  deal  to  say  about 
the  duty  of  the  church  in  the  matter  of  preserving  "  sound 
doctrine."  It  is  told  to  "contend  earnestly  for  the  faith" 
as  though  there  was  something  fixed  and  certain  to  con- 
tend for,  and  a  need  of  contending  for  it;  and  it  is  the 
"  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  not  someone  to  be 
evolved  along  through  the  ages.  The  expression 
"damnable  heresies"  is  entirely  scriptural,  heresy  ac- 
cording to  the  Bible  is  as  damnable  as  immorality.  St. 


Creed  and  Discipline.  107 

Paul  is  not  liberal  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  wjien 
he  denounces  those  that  "  trouble  you,  and  would  per- 
vert the  Gospel  of  Christ"  and  goes  on  to  say  "  let  them 
be  accursed."  Our  liberal  churches  would  object  by 
saying  that  those  who  do  so  are  both  "nice"  and  "smart," 
but  St.  Paul  foresaw  this,  for  he  says  that  though  they 
be  veritable  St.  Pauls  or  angels  from  heaven,  let  them  be 
accursed,  and  if  this  seem  harsh  or  if  any  think  there  is 
a  mistake,  he  repeats  the  same  more  deliberately.  "  As 
we  said  before,  so  say  I  now  again.  If  any  man  preach 
any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  ye  have  received, 
let  him  be  accursed."  Most  of  the  epistles  are  taken  up 
with  the  teaching  of  "  sound  doctrine."  The  sharpest  re- 
bukes and  fiercest  denunciations  are  hurled  against  those 
that  teach  the  contrary,  or  who  are  "  vain  babblers  "  or 
theorists  "  intruding  into  those  things  which  they  have 
not  seen,  vainly  puffed  up  by  their  fleshly  mind."  Mod- 
ern advocates  of  "large  liberty  "  and  "liberal  views"  did 
not  receive  their  inspiration  from  the  Bible,  for  it  takes 
for  granted  throughout,  that  the  distinction  between 
truth  and  error  is  sharp  and  well-defined,  and  that  those 
who  will  "  do  the  will  of  God  "  shall  and  can  "  know  of 
the  doctrine"  that  is  from  God.  Christ  in  his  last  mes- 
sage to  the  churches  finds  little  fault  with  their  charity 
and  good  works,  but  he.  finds  fault  with  them  because 
they  had  allowed  false  teachers  to  teach  their  false  doc- 
trines within  the  church.  They  were  evidently  in  the 
same  state  as  that  of  liberal  churches  of  to-day  from 
whom  the  cry  of  "charity  and  good  works"is  incessantly 
going  up.  Christ  says  he  knows  all  about  it — "  the  last 
more  than  the  first "  increased  zeal  in  it,  but  he  tells  them 
he  will  not  take  it  as  an  excuse  for  their  spiritual  whore- 
doms and  departure  from  the  truth,  their  toleration  of 


io8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


false  teachers  and  sympathy  with  their  false  doctrine. 
Christ  evidently  saw  in  this  the  greatest  peril  to  his 
church. 

"  A  man  that  is  a  heretic  after  the  first  and  second 
admonition,  reject."  This  is  the  New  Testament  rule 
for  dealing  with  heretics,  those  that  are  presumptuous 
and  self-willed  in  their  error  can  not  be  gotten  rid  of  too 
quickly.  The  false  liberality  and  slowness  of  church 
trial,  that  allows  the  heretic  to  sow  his  seed  of  error  for 
months  and  years  after  he  has  been  discovered,  is  a  dis- 
grace to  the  church  and  disloyalty  to  Christ  and  his 
truth.  Wrong  tendencies  and  false  notions  among  lay 
members,  are-often  due  to  ignorance  and  want  of  spiritual 
insight.  Doctrines  have  been  cried  down,  and  system- 
atic teaching  of  children  and  youth  neglected.  Converts 
have  but  little  instruction  before  joining  the  church,  and 
the  lessons  of  Sunday-school  and  pulpit  are  disjointed 
and  inadequate.  Reports  and  statistics  have  become  a 
terror  to  the  pastors,  the  temptation  to  make  a  show  at 
any  rate,  is  great,  and  the  prevailing  liberalism  offers 
little  resistance  to  it.  A  selfish  zeal  to  save  the  church 
and  save  one's  self  in  a  worldly  sense  becomes  dominant; 
under  this  influence  souls  are  not  born  again,  they  join 
without  the  enlightening  and  sanctifying  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  which  otherwise  would  make  up  in  a  meas- 
ure for  lack  of  instruction.  The  consequence  is  that 
many  of  the  churches  are  just  now  in  a  condition  where 
they  are  apt  to  mistake  the  howling  of  the  wolves  for  the 
voice  of  the  shepherd.  Some  of  our  professors  of  theol- 
ogies have  a  faint  suspicion  that  there  is  something  in 
religion,  but  it  is  trouble  for  them  to  make  out  what  it 
is;  they  have  been  feeding  upon  the  husks  of  infidelity 
that  were  meant  for  the  swine,  till  now  they  do  not  quite 


Creed  and  Discipline.  109 

know  whether  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  or  whether  they 
have  a  soul.  Candidates  for  the  ministry  go  from  them, 
their  heads  crammed  with  infidel  criticism  and  in  their 
heart  a  morbid  desire  to  startle  the  world  with  some  new 
announcement.  The  froth  of  infidelity  comes  to  the 
surface  in  their  conduct,  their  conceit  generally  cor- 
responds to  their  lack  of  spirituality.  "  These  be  thy 
gods,  O  Israel,"  and'  they  are  not  golden  calves  either. 
A  writer  in  a  leading  periodical  has  lately  boasted  that 
the  heterodox  seminaries  have  enough  of  these  brazen 
calves  provided  to  supply  the  pulpits  throughout  the  land 
when  the  churches  shall  be  ready  to  receive  them,  and 
he  contemplates  that  by  that  time  there  will  be  no  lack 
of  "  breadth."  This  is  the  modern  tactics  of  infidelity. 
To  attack  the  church  and  Christianity  as  avowed  enemies 
has  well-nigh  ceased,  but  to  work  within  the  church  dis- 
guised as  friends  and  professing  the  faith  has  become  the 
rule.  The  work  of  disintegration  could  be  done  no 
more  effectually  than  through  a  skeptical  ministry,  and 
strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  control  of 
theological  seminaries. 

The  difficulty  involved  in  keeping  these  institutions 
true  to  Christianity  and  their  appointed  mission,  should 
by  this  time  be  seen  and  recognized  by  the  churches. 
What  is  being  done  by  them  in  America,  has  been  done 
in  other  countries.  In  Germany,  Rationalism  secured 
a  foothold  in  the  seminaries,  and  through  them  in  the 
pulpit.  The  result  is  that  Protestant  Germany  has  be- 
come unbelieving.  What  infidelity  and  skepticism  could 
not  have  done  outside  as  an  avowed  enemy  of  religion, 
it  has  done  most  effectually  under  the  guise  of  friend- 
ship and  theT  assumed  name  of  Christian.  Liberalism, 
likewise  in  England,  allowed  the  leaven  of  Romanism  to 


no 


Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


be  introduced  in  theological  institutions;  the  result  is 
that  to-day  one  can  hardly  tell  whether  the  Anglican 
Church  is  Protestant  o"r  Catholic,  so  thoroughly  has  it 
been  Romanized  In  the  Apostolic  Church,  the  servants 
and  ministers  of  various  kinds  were  taken  from  the  bosom 
of  the  Church,  and  chosen  after  they  had  demonstrated 
their  fitness  and  ability.  Endowed  and  self-supporting 
institutionshave  their  life  too  much  apart  from  the  church 
and  are  apt  to  become  subject  to  foreign  influences. 
The  pride  of  learning,  the  conceit  of  novelties  and  love 
of  notoriety  will  take  the  place  of  honest  striving  for 
spiritual  fitness  as  ministers  of  the  church.  Wherever  a 
heap  of  mammon  is  piled  up  in  any  one  place,  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil  will  strain  every  nerve  to  get 
control.  If  institutions  of  this  kind  must  be  part  of  the 
church  machinery,  they  can  not  be  too  strictly  and  cer- 
tainly under  her  control.  The  church  surrenders  her 
life,  independence  and  character,  when  she  allows  min- 
isters and  teachers  to  be  imposed  upon  her  that  have , 
been  trained  under  influences  apart  from  the  church. 

The  church  is  responsible  for  the  preservation  and 
promulgation  of  the  truth  revealed  and  committed  to  her 
by  Christ.  Faith  in  this  truth  is  the  basis  of  all  moral 
qualities  and  spiritual  life.  Truth  about  the  true  char- 
acter of  God,  without  a  knowledge  of  which  we  cannot 
be  God-like.  Truth  about  Christ,  involving  the  whole 
question  whether  God  indeed  has  revealed  himself  in  a 
special  plan  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Truth  about 
the  Holy  Spirit,  answering  the  question,  "will  God  in- 
deed dwell  on  the  earth?"  "Can  we  have  conscious 
communion  with  God?"  Truth  about  a  future  life:  it  is 
of  infinite  consequence  that  we  should  know  how  much 
is  involved  in  right-doing  and  wrong-doing,  if  infinite 


Creed  and  Discipline.  hi 

bliss  or  woe  is  involved,  and  of  that  importance  is  right 
doctrine  on  the  subject.  Truth  about  the  Bible,  involv- 
ing the  whole  question,  whether  upon  the  whole,  we 
know  anything  certain  of  what  we  profess.  The  respon- 
sibility on  the  part  of  the  church  of  teaching  and  main- 
taining the  truth  in  its  purity,  cannot  be  overestimated, 
or  too  much  emphasized.  She  would  be  infinitely  guilty, 
if  she  should  allow  error  to  be  substituted  for  truth,*  or 
upon  the  whole  be  indifferent  and  negligent  as  to  what 
is  taught. 

A  church  that  is  lacking  either  the  power  or  the  dispo- 
sition to  deal  with  those  that  teach  or  act  contrary  to  the 
standards  of  the  church,  is  not  in  harmony  with,  the  New 
Testament,  neither  does  it  fulfill  the  requirements  of  per- 
sonal honor  and  integrity,  for  the  one  as  well  as  the  other 
of  these  demands  that  those  who  fellowship  with  us  in 
the  church,  toward  whom  we  sustain  relations  and  have 
responsibilties,  who  have  a  right  to  call  us  brethren, 
should  also  be  subject  to  common  requirements,  and  be 
liable  to  be  called  to  account  if  they  teach  or  act  contrary 
to  the  compact.  One  would  suppose  by  the  demand  for 
liberality  in  faith  and  church  government,  and  the  pride 
some  take  in  being  considered  liberal,  that  this  is  the 
fundamental  and  crowning  glory  of  religion;  but  one 
may  be  liberal  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  without  being 
either  religious,  virtuous  or  honest.  Christianity  is  not 
a  negation  of  this  sort.  The  only  reason  Christianty  has  for 
its  existence,  is  the  fact  that  there  is  something  definite 
both  in  regard  to  faith  and  practice  to  be  insisted  upon, 
and  that  it  is  revealed  to  us,  so  that  we  know  it.  The 
church  does  not  compel  thought  or  belief,  she  compels 
those  that  #b  not  think  or  believe  in  harmony  with  her, 
to  remain  separate.     Her  only  weapon  is  rebuke  and 


112  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

expulsion.  The  church  must  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
enemies  of  God  and  his  truth  are  as  ready  now  as  in  the 
days  of  Christ  or  St.  Paul,  to  enter  the  fold  as  wolves 
arrayed  in  sheep's  clothing,"  and  she, cannot  afford  to 
neglect  the  repeated  warnings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles 
to  guard  against  them,  and  expel  them  if  they  hg^ve 
"crept  in  unawares."  If  the  church  should  conclude 
shelias  nothing  worth  contending  for,  the  world  will  con- 
clude she  has  nothing  worth  listening  to.  But  this 
is  evidently  not  the  idea  of  ourliberals  and  heretics — that 
there  is  nothing  worth  contending  for;  while  they  sneer 
at  contention  about  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  they 
are  contending  for  their  errors  with  desperate  earnest- 
ness. And  while  they  denounce  controversies  about 
the  faith  of  the  church,  they  are  filling  books  and 
periodicals  with  controversies  in  favor  of  their  pet- 
theories,  as  though  life  and  death  depended  on  them. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


FUTURE  PUNISHMENT. 

"  For  I  have  five  brethren :  that  he  may  testify  unto  them  lest  they  also 
come  into  this  place  of  torment. — Gospel  of  Luke. 

The  speaker  in  our  text  is  represented  as  one  of  a 
large  family,  who,  like  himself,  could  not  be  persuaded 
that  there  is  a  hell,  neither  by  Scripture,  nor  even  by  a 
message  from  the  Spirit  world  should  such  be  vouchsafed. 
There  are  reasons  for  this  unbelief,  fear  on  the  one  hand 
and  sympathy  on  the  other  favor  it.  Hells,  either  in 
this  or  a  future  world,  are  not  objects  one  would  con- 
template from  choice.  If  it  were  a  mere  question  of 
inventing  or  imagining  a  better  state  of  things  than  that 
which  exists  in  this  world,  or  portions  of  the  next,  as 
described  in  the  Bible,  it  would  be  very  easy  to  better 
things;  but  things  are  not  bettered  by  speculations  and 
theories.  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  find  out  and  under- 
stand the  facts  as  they  are  presented  to  us,  and  govern 
our  faith  and  practice  in  accordance  with  them. 

The  difficulty  on  the  part  of  those  that  would  refute 
the  "theory  of  hell"  so  called,  is  that  there  is  so  little 
theory  about  it,  and  so  much  fact.  The  worst  hell  ever 
pictured  by  poet  or  priest  lies  within  the  range  of  hu- 
tnan  experience  in  this  world.  We  do  not  need  to  draw 
npon  ima^^ation  at  all,  everything,  except  eternal  dur- 
a:i<)!i  may  be  seen  or  felt  any  time;  but  eternal  duration 


114  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

is  in  itself  only  a  continuation  of  the  present,  and  there- 
fore not  something  new.  Those  that  have  no  fear  of  the 
revelation  of  the  Bible,  may  well  fear  the  revelation  of 
our  natural  life;  they  are  equally  fearful  in  this  respect — 
the  one  is  the  complement  and  affirmation  of  the  other. 
There  are  experiences  in  this  life  that  could  not  be  men- 
tioned on  account  of  their  very  horribleness.  Unrelieved 
by  the  poetical  genius  of  a  Dante,  the  hells  of  this  world 
and  the  next  would  not  tolerate  description.  But 
proud,  vain  and  boastful  generation  might  do  well  occa- 
sionally to  ponder  that  what  itwould  be  intolerable  either 
to  speak  or  hear,  what  we  do  not  even  dare  to  know  lies 
all  within  the  range  of  human  experience,  within  the 
range  of  possibilities  in  every  case.  We  boast  of  in- 
vincible courage,  indomitable  will  power,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  while  the  disorder  of  a  single  nerve  in  a 
poor,  frail  body,  leaves  us  helpless  and  tormented,  with- 
ering both  happiness  and  ambition.  "  It  is  true  this 
god  did  shake;  his  coward  lips  did  from  their  color  fly; 
and  the  same  eyes  whose  bend  doth  owe  the  world,  did 
lose  their  lustre." 

Man  has  felt  the  awfulness  of  this  problem  of  painf  in 
all  ages.  The  ignorant  have  tried  to  put  on  a  bold  face  and 
defy  it;  the  philosopher  has  quailed  before  it.  The  prob- 
lem stares  us  out  of  countenance,  although  it  is  a  very  un- 
philosophical  thing  in  this  philosophical  age  to  be  stared 
out  of  countenance  by  any  problem.  Yet  very  few  dare  to 
look  at  it  soberly,  if  they  do  not  refuse  to  look  at  it  at  all. 
They  excuse  themselves  by  the  modern  aphorism  that  we 
must  look  at  the  bright  side  of  things,  even  when  the 
dark  thrusts  itself  upon  us  as  though  it  courted  inquiry. 
Undoubtedly  the  philosophical  thing  is  to%)ok  at  all 
sides  of  life'  or  any  question  connected  with  it.  The 


Future  Punishment.  115 

pessimist  and  optimist  are  equally  at  fault,  but  the  latter 
is  apt  to  be  the  worse  deceived.  If  anyone  is  so  con- 
stituted that  he  can  look  only  at  one  side  of  life,  or  any- 
thing, he  had  better  look  at  the  side  from  whence  dan- 
ger threatens,  so  look  that  he  may  be  aware. 

It  is  a  fair  question  to  ask  what  science  and  civiliza- 
tion have  done  towards  the  solution  of  this  problem  of 
pain.  Of  course,  the  mere  alleviation  of  suffering  that 
may  be  effected  by  charity  does  not  touch  the  question 
as  we  are  now  considering  it.  The  discovery  of  anes- 
thetics may  be  said  to  be  a  real  achievement  iruthe  field 
of  science.  But  the  very  fact  that  it  has  been  considered 
a  great  triumph  to  be  able  to  deaden  the  sense  of  pain, 
but  for  a  few  moments,  and  this  at  considerable  risk, 
rather  serves  to  emphasize  the  fact  of  our  general  help- 
lessness. As  for  civilization,  it  has  only  made  us  the 
more  sensitive  to  pain.  It  is  estimated  that  a  civilized 
person  with  nervous  temperament,  suffers  three  times  as 
much  as  a  savage  under  the  same  surgical  operation,  and 
civilized  man  is  subject  to  mental  pain  and  distress  that 
the  savage  knows  nothing  of.  As  we  cultivate  and  in- 
ten^fy  life,  the  realms  of  pain  and  pleasure  alike  open 
before  us,  and  in  equal  proportion.  The  pain  and  dis- 
tress to  which  we  become  exposed  is  in  every  way  equal 
to  the  pleasure  and  happiness  we  may  hope  to  obtain, 
even  as  the  degradation  of  character  we  may  witness  any 
day,  is  equal  in  proportion  to  the  exaltation  that  has 
been  attained.  There  is  an  infinitude  between  the  two. 
Man  has  not  only  been  able  reacfily  to  conceive  of  the 
pains  of  hell  from  present  experience,  but  as  readily  of 
the  characters  that  fulfill  the  opposite  conditions.  The 
conceptionl^)f  angels  and  devils  as  painted  by  the  great 
masters  illustrate  the  extremes  to  which  human  character 


ii6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

tends;  as  we  compare  the  two  we  see  at  once  that  the 
distinction  between  heaven  and  hell  is  not  arbitrary,  but 
that  it  exists  in  character  to  the  full  extent  pictured  in 
the  Bible. 

Philosophy  has  attempted  to  explain  the  problem  of 
pain  on  the  ground  of  utility.  Something,  undoubtedly, 
may  be  accounted  for  on  this  ground,  but,  upon  the 
whole,  the  use  it  serves  is  rather  incidental,  as  a  solution 
of  the  problem  the  explanation  is  quite  inadequate. 
Pain  may  be  of  use  as  a  means  of  discipline.  The  peculiar 
sensitiveness  of  the  skin  may  serve  the  purpose  of  ward- 
ing off  injury  and  be  so  intended.  The  heart  laid  bare, 
it  is  said,  may  be  pinched  without  much  feeling,  If  this 
however,  is  meant  to  prove  that  sensitiveness  exists  in 
the  skin  alone,  we  are  easily  undeceived.  Internal 
diseases  are  not  painless.  'Neither  does  pain  cease  when 
it  is  of  no  more  use  as  a  warning  against  injury,  nor  as  a 
disciplinary  agency.  It  continues  after  the  injury 
has  been  accomplished  and  the  warning  vain.  It 
continues  also  after  an  individual  has  become  in- 
corrigible and  discipline  useless.  Properly  speak- 
ing, all  that  we  know  about  it  is,  that  whenever 
there  is  injury  there  is  pain,  there  is  never  pain  unless 
there  is  injary.  This  is  true  of  our  physical  as  well  as 
of  our  tporal  being.  The  pain  continues  till  the  injury  is 
healed.  If  the  injury  is  incurable,  the  pain  is  also  in- 
curable. 

Pain  of  conscience,  properly  understood  is  disciplin- 
ary. It  is  irrelevant  to'speak  of  conscience  in  connection 
with  the  damned.  As  conscience,  the  divine  element  in 
the  soul,  is  eliminated  and  withdrawn,  actual  dread  of 
punishment  be^;omes  more  and  more  an  element  in  re- 
morse, dreM  T/f  punishment  without  any  sorrow  for  evil 


Future  Punishment.  117 

doing,  till  at  last  there  is  nothing  of  conscience  left,  but 
"a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment." 

"Behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  and  severity  of 
God"  is  the  language  alike  of  revelation  and  nature,  the 
impartial  observer  will  find  no  more  nor  any  less  evidence 
of  the  one  than  of  the  other.  But  what  is  most  pleasant 
to  contemplate,  of  that  there  can  be  no  question.  In  an 
age  largely  sympathetic  and  sentimental,  with  no  lofty 
apprehension  of  moral  requirements,  we  may  look  for 
efforts  to  put  the  best  possible  construction  upon  an  evil 
case.  The  "best"  under  these  circumstances  is  not 
likely  to  be  the  most  logical.  Sound  reason  would  re- 
quire us  to  believe  that  what  is  involved  inhuman  nature 
may  be  evolved,  but  the  extremes  of  degradation  and 
elevation,  pain  and  joy,  are  alike  involved.  We  choose 
the  most  felicitous  moments  of  our  life,  enlarge  upon  the 
experience  and  imagine  something  beyond,  a  continuance 
of  this  we  call  heaven;  we  think  of  our  direst  experience, 
the  severest  pain  we  have  known,  and  need  imagine 
nothing  more,  a  continuation  of  it  would  be  hell,  greater 
than  we  would  want  to  think  of.  Vv  e  have  no  doubt  that  the 
promise  of  joy  and  glory  will  be  fulfilled,  the  seed  of  the 
rose  and  lily  will  certainly  grow,  develop  and  flourish; 
but  the  evil  seed  sown  in  hearts  and  cultivated,  it  is 
hoped,  will  somehow  prove  a  failure,  its  development  cut 
short,  and  its  legitimate  fruit  fail  to  appear.  But  nature, 
no  more  than  Scripture,  encourages  this  hope.  Weeds 
and  thistles  have  a  vitality  and  immortality  seemingly  ^ 
inherent  in  their  nature,  which- nothing  can  eradicate, 
while  the  useful  plants  and  grains  can  only  be  cultivated 
into  existence,  and  if  cultivation  cease  they  will  shortly 
degenerate  into  worthless  scrubs  and  grasses  from  which 
they  had  been  developed.    As  far,  then,  as  nature  is 


ii8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

concerned  evil  may  be  said  to  have  a  natural  immortality, 
but  good  is  conditioned  on  careful  cultivation  and  it  looks 
as  though  the  same  law  obtains  in  the  moral  world. 

In  view  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal  consequences  in- 
dicated in  nature  and  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  it  has 
been  suggested,  and  even  boldly  declared,  that  it  would 
have  been  better  if  the  world  had  never  come  into  ex- 
istence, than  that  so  much  woe  should  have  been  en- 
tailed. In  some  moods  we  might  all  second  this  idea,  as 
Christ  said  of  some  persons  that  it  would  have  been 
better  for  them  if  they  had  not  been  born;  so  it  may  be 
true  of  some  worlds,  that  it  would  have  been  better  if  they 
had  not  been  born.  It  is  implied  in  the  words  of  Christ 
that  God  is  not  responsible  for  the  propagation  and  con- 
tinuation of  a  wicked  race,  though  for  reasons  known  to 
himself,  and  in  part  revealed,  he  has  not  so  far  seen  fit 
to  make  an  end  of  it  by  divine  intervention.  The  prin- 
cipal reason  is  undoubtedly  that  some  good  is  got  out  of 
the  world  in  spite  of  the  evil,  heaven  counts  even  a  single 
sinner  saved  a  great  gain.  But  as  to  the  world  as  it  now 
is,  God  does  not  assume  the  responsibility  for  it,  nothing 
is  taught  more  clearly  in  the  Word  of  God  than  this,  that 
the  world  is  estranged  from  God,  it  is  placed  in  direct 
opposition  to  God's  world  and  kingdom.  In  order  to  be 
saved  we  must,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  forsake  this  world 
and  be  born  anew  into  God's  world  and  kingdom,  it  is 
then  said  of  the  children  of  God,  thus  born,  that  they"  are 
not  of  the  world  "  and  may  not  be  **  conformed  to  the 
world,"  neither  "love  the  world,"  and  that  the  world 
lieth  in  the  wicked  one."  God  created  the  world  in  the 
beginning  and  saw  that  it  was  good,  but  now,  according 
to  Scripture,  it  is  another  and  different  worW.  God  in 
creating,  creates  conditions;  men  make  a  good  or  bad  use 


Future  Punishment.  119 

of  them  as  they  choose.  It  may  well  be  said  that  man 
is  as  sovereign  within  his  sphere  as  God  within  his.  Is 
it  not  written  ...  I  said,  ye  are  gods  .  .  .  and  the 
Scriptures  cannot  be*  broken/*  mean  and  humble,  at 
times,  even  loathsome,  as  man  appears  in  his  fallen,  de- 
graded condition,  there  is  yet  in  him  the  possibilities  of 
all  that  is  noble  and  exalted  on  one  hand  and  wicked 
and  degraded  on  the  other,  and  he  has  it  in  his  power  to 
make  actual  these  possibilities.  He  creates  his  own 
world;  his  character,  destiny  and  environment  are  all  of 
his  own  making.  God's  sovereignty  is  exercised  in  re- 
straining and  circumscribing  his  sphere  of  activity,  and 
the  Bible  promises  that  the  incorrigible  wicked  shall  at 
the  end  of  time  be  confined  absolutely  to  their  own 
world. 

When  it  is  asked  what  good  purpose  eternal  punish- 
ment will  serve  we  object  to  the  question  as  irrelevant. 
It  goes  on  the  presumption  that  Scripture,  as  well  as  our 
experience  in  this  world,  are  entirely  false  in  what  they 
teach  on  this  subject.  According  to  the  teaching  of 
both,  sin  is  an  essential  evil  and  does  not  tend  to  serve 
any  good  purpose,  this  is  not  to  be  expected  or  hoped 
for.  If  it  is  sometimes  possible  with  God  to  "  make  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,''  this  is  an  incidental  benefit, 
but  otherwise,  sin  and  its  evil  are  such  in  their  very  char- 
acter, by  voluntary  action  and  free  will,  blameable  and 
damnable  in  their  exercise,  and  the  results  that  flow  from 
it  cannot  be  anything  but  bitter  and  painful  through 
time  and  eternity.  There  is  never  anything  actually 
gained  by  violating  God's  laws;  if  that  were  the  case, 
then  they  ought  to  be  violated.  The  sooner  the  world 
finds  out  that  sin  and  its  consequences  do  not  tend  to 
any  good  purpose,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  world. 


120  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

It  has  been  objected  that  heaven  could  not  be  happy- 
while  hell  existed.  This  idea  is  natural,  and  will  sug- 
gest itself  to  all.  But  heaven  is  not  a  thing  of  the  fut- 
ure, it  is  now  and  has  always  been,  and  so  with  hell, 
to  some  extent  it  is  now  and  has  been  ever  since  men  or 
angels  fell  from  their  allegiance  to  God,  Heaven  is  sup- 
posed to  be  happy  now,  while  not  only  sin  and  suffer- 
ing to  a  great  extent  exists,  but  when  often  those  suffer 
who  least  deserve  it,  when  wrong  and  suffering  and  pain 
is  inflicted  on  the  very  children  of  God;  while  wicked 
men  and  devils  are  rampant,  destroying  God's  creation, 
and  bidding  defiance  to  the  Almighty,  "  deceiving,  if 
it  were  possible,  the  very  elect."  Should  heaven  be 
less  happy  when  wrong  at  last  is  righted,  justice  done, 
peace  secured,  and  the  wicked  confined  to  their  proper 
place?  If  happiness  and  heaven  were  inconsistent  with 
worlds  of  sin,  suffering  and  woe,  and  with  an  active  in- 
terest in  such  worlds,  then  we  do  not  know  that  heaven 
ever  could  have  existed.  The  Bible  describes  the  oc- 
cupants of  heaven  as  well  informed  and  intensely  inter- 
ested. When  a  world-calamity  befell  this  planet,  it  was 
felt  in  heaven,  and  it  at  once  hastened  to  our  relief. 
Not  only  are  angels  described  as  active  in  our  behalf, 
studying,  looking  into  the  mystery  of  this  ruin,  and  the 
work  of  redemption,  and  actively  engaged  in  the  work; 
but  God  did  more  than  send  the  angels;  he  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son,  to  save  the  world,  or  whatever  might  be 
saved.  Thus  the  Bible  describes  heaven,  and  again  as 
a  multitude  of  witnesses,  viewing  with  intense  interest 
the  struggle  between  right  and  wrong,  joying  in  the 
very  presence  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repents  and 
is  saved.  We  must  therefore  believe  that  the  happiness 
of  heaven  is  not  saved  by  ignorance  or  indifference  to 


Future  Punishment. 


121 


worlds  of  sin  and  woe;  but  if  the  battle  is  so  strong  that 
a  single  soul  saved  is  counted  a  trophy  worthy  of  great 
rejoicing,  we  may  know  that  even  omnipotence  cannot 
do  more  than  it  has  and  is  doing,  and  that  sin  and  evil 
has  a  sovereignty  of  its  own,  which  may  be  restrained, 
but  cannot  be  forced  into  anything  different  from  what 
it  is,  and  that  consequently  heaven  itself  could  not  prevent 
its  existence,  as  we  know  it  to  exist.  As  for  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven,  it  may  be  built  upon  the  same  plan  as 
happiness  here;  we  should  never  be  happy  if  we  had  to 
wait  till  there  was  absolutely  no  cause  to  the  contrary. 
We  are  happy  when  the  causes  for  joy  preponderate. 
Heaven  could  not  be  actively  interested  in  a  world  of 
sin  and  woe  like  this,  without  being  touched  by  the 
shadow  of  its  sorrow,  but  heaven  may,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  mighty  causes  for  joy,  which  we  can  but 
faintly  imagine. 

Arguments  against  hell  are  almost  wholly  addressed 
to  human  sympathies.  It  is  easy  to  harp  upon  the 
chords  of  sympathy  till  every  nerve  cries  out  against  hell, 
both  present  and  future,  but  that  does  not  alter  the  facts 
as  we  know  them  and  have  them  revealed  to  us.  Pain 
and  distress,  the  awful  and  terrible,  the  ugly  and  loath- 
some meets  us  at  every  step,  even  though  our  sympathies 
cry  out  against  them.  Neither  does  it  answer  any  bet- 
ter to  couple  this  appeal  with  reference  to  God's  love 
and  mercy.  We  must  interpret  the  love  of  God  and  his 
whole  character,  consistent  with  all  the  facts  observable, 
and  all  the  passages  of  Scripture,  and  not  in  the  light  of 
a  single  class  of  facts  or  passages.  If  our  natural  sym- 
pathies suffer,  then  we  must  conclude  it  is  because  there 
are  moral  considerations  surpassing  them  in  importance. 

When  the  only  begotten  of  God  came  into  this  world, 


122  Christianity  and. Our  Times. 

as  determined  in  the  counsel  of  the  Father,  he  did  not 
undertake  to  disabuse  us  of  any  extravagant  notion  about 
sin  and  its  consequences.  He  did  not  soothe  us  with 
the  assurance  that  it  was  a  phantasm  that  soon  would 
disappear.  He  emphasized  the  fact  both  of  sin  and  its 
woe,  his  love  found  its  first  expression  in  a  call  to  re- 
pentance,only  as  sin  was  forsaken  could  hell  be  abated. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  his  sermon  on 
the  mount  and  often  afterwards,  he  uses  this  expression, 
"  Shall  be  cast  into  hell,"  and  we  do  not  need  to  look  up 
the  etymology  of  the  word  "heir'or  its  equivalent  in  the 
original,  to  find  out  what  Christ  understood  by  it,  he  ex- 
plains it  fully  if  we  wish  for  his  opinion  or  teaching  on 
the  subject;  he  tells  us  that  there  "the  worm  dieth  not 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched."  Evidently  he  meant  to 
impress  upon  his  hearers  the  fact,  that  the  fire  of 
Gehenne,  into  which  the  wicked  are  cast,  is  not  like  the 
fires  of  this  world,  temporary  and  quenchable;  likewise 
that  the  soul  cast  into  it,  is  not  like  a  worm  easy  shriveled 
up  in  a  fire,  but  deathless.  It  is  a  contrast  of  what  is 
eternal  with  things  that  are  temporal,  and  the  emphasis 
is  on  this  fact.  In  other  passages,  he  describes  the 
hopeless  despair  of  the  place  as  that  of  "  outer  darkness, 
where  there  shall  be  weeping,  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
teeth."  Here  again  we  find  the  same  emphasis,  the 
darkness  is  the  "outer"  or  uttermost,  beyond  which  is 
nothing  else,  and  the  despair  described  characteristic  of 
such  a  place.  Those  who  wish  to  escape  from  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  on  this  subject,  have  gone  so  far  as  to  call 
in  doubt  whether  the  words  eternal,  everlasting,  forever 
and  ever  mean  what  they  express,  when  used  with  refer- 
ence to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked;  but  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  on  this  subject  is  everywhere  a  contrast 


Future  Punishment.  123 

of  what  IS  temporal  with  what  is  eternal,  and  favor  this 
meaning.  Aside  from  this,  the  efifort  to  make  out  eternal 
to  be  temporal  when  used  with  reference  to  the  wicked, 
while  in  the  very  same  passage  it  is  allowed  to  be  eternal 
when  used  with  reference  to  the  saved,  is  an  effort  that 
reduces  interpretation  to  a  mere  science  of  evasion  and 
equivocation.  We  sometimes  nowadays  use  the  words 
eternal,  everlasting,  etc.,  in  poetry  or  slang  phrases,  and 
take  liberties  with  their  meaning;  but  whenever  the 
meaning  is  appropriate  to  the  subject,  no  such  liberties 
can  consistently  be  taken.  But  the  teaching  of- Christ 
by  contrasts  makes  discussion  of  these  words  superfluous, 
the  eternal  and  hopeless  state  of  the  wicked  is  every- 
where emphasized.  "  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill 
the  body,"  says  the  Savior  in  one  passage,  "and  after 
that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will  fore- 
warn you  whom  ye  shalf  fear" — here  again  we  mark 
the  contrast  and  the  peculiar  emphasis  laid  upon  it — 
"  fear  him  which  after  he  had  killed  had  power  to  cast 
into  hell;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him."  In  the  repre- 
sentative description  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  we 
find  the  word  Hades  used  in  the  larger-^ense,  as  the  com- 
mon world  of  the  dead,  both  good  and  bad,  so  far  accom- 
modating himself  to  the  ideas  of  the  times,  only  he  does 
not  allow  the  idea  of  contiguity.  He  describes  the 
good  and  bad,  separated  by  a  "  great  gulf,"  impassible 
and  immutably  fixed;  Lazarus  is  seen  "  afar  off. "  The 
picture  of  Dives  tormented  in  the  flames,  and  the  dialogue 
between  him  and  father  Abraham  is  familiar.  The  fact 
emphasized  by  Christ 'is  that  of  unmitigated  torment, 
without  hope  of  escape.  The  day  of  judgment  as  set  forth 
by  Christ  is  a  counterpart.  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  an- 


124  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

gels."  "And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment." The  same  hopelessness  and  endlessness  is 
taught  incidentally  in  the  statement  about  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  has  no  forgiveness,  "  either  in 
this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come."  Christ,  so  far 
from  making  his  own  suffering  a  substitute  for  the  suffer-  j 
ing  of  all  mankind,  irrespective  of  character,  warns  us,  j 
that  "  if  this  is  done  in  a  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  ^ 
in  the  dry."  The  teaching  of  Christ  in  regard  to  the  fut- 
ure punishment  of  the  wicked,  as  referred  to  briefly,  is 
not  found  in  isolated  passages;  it  is  not  aside  for  itself 
in  a  corner  where  it  might  easily  be  eliminated,  it  finds 
expression  naturally  in  his  general  teaching ;  it  is  referred  to 
oftener  and  taught  more  fully  than  any  other  single  doc- 
trine. It  is  taught  by  plain  statements  and  illustrated  in 
most  of  his  parables.  Perhags  there  is  nothing  more  sol- 
emnly impressive  in  any  language  than  the  way  he  sets  forth 
the  consternation  and  despair  of  wicked  ones,  who,  de- 
ceived and  unconscious  of  their  damned  state,  come 
even  as  it  were  to  the  doors  of  heaven,  only  to  be  turned 
away  with  the  "  I  know  you  not,  depart."  We  find  this 
in  solemn  statements,  and  illustrated  by  parables. 

Skeptical  persons,  that  do  not  know  the  Bible,  gen- 
erally imagine  that  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment  has 
been  derived  from  some  of  the  minor  characters  of  Bible- 
writers,  perhaps  the  "stern  old  Prophets."  There  is 
unanimity  on  the  part  of  Bible  writers  on  the  subject,  but 
it  is  Jesus  and  John,  the  two  supposed  to  be  most  tender- 
hearted, that  have  supplied  the  church  with  the  ideas 
embodied  in  their  theology  and  teaching  about  hell  and 
future  punishment;  perhaps  for  the  very  reason  that  it 
should  not  be  taught  due  to  any  peculiar  harshness  on 
the  part  of  those  who  taught  it.     In  our  illustrated 


Future  Punishment.  125 

Bibles,  we  have  a  picture  of  John  the  Apostle  in  the 
form  of  a  sentimental  woman;  this  is  the  popular  notion 
of  divine  love,  but  Christ  knowing  the  character  of  John 
better,  gave  him  the  surname  Boanerges — Son  of  Thun- 
der. In  his  book  of  Revelation,  we  have  hell  described 
as  "a  lake,  burning  with  fire  and  brimstone,"  where  "  the 
smoke  of  their  burning  ascend  forever  and  ever,  and 
also  as  a  "  bottomless  pit,"  a  very  suggestive  figure  of 
hopeless  descend.  No  one  can  wish  to  dwell  upon  these 
utterances  by  Jesus  and  John,  in  order  to  add  to  their 
terror;  neither  should  anyone  dare  to  belittle  the  mean- 
ing embodied  in  them. 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  Christ  declares  and 
describes  the  state  of  the  wicked  after  death,  but  such 
are  actually  brought  before  us  in  the  history  of  his  life 
and  ministry  in  the  shape  of  disembodied  spirits,  pos- 
sessed of  the  faculties  of  intelligence  and  character. 
They  are  called  devils  or  demons.  Where  they  came 
from,  we  do  not  know,  but  the  fact  that  they  found  this 
earth  a  congenial  place,  and  the  minds  and  bodies  of 
evil  men  fit  mediums  for  their  activity  and  influence, 
prove  that  they  must  have  originated  either  in  this  world, 
or  in  some  world  like  ours.  The  activity  of  dis- 
embodied wicked  spirits  is  connected  with  the  whole 
of  Christ's  ministry,  from  the  time  the  devil  came 
to  him  in  the  wilderness  of  his  temptation,  till 
he  entered  Judas  before  his  betrayal.  Many  en- 
counters with  them  are  related;  Christ  rebuked  them, 
resisted  them  and  cast  them  out.  He  asked  them 
questions  and  they  answered  him.  They  showed  intelli- 
gence and  knowledge  beyond  that  of  men.  They  knew 
Christ  and  addressed  him  as  "  the  holy  one."  "What 
have  we  to  do  with  thee,  art  thou  come  to  torment  us?" 


126 


Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


What  had  they  to  do  with  him:  his  message  of  mercy 
was  evidently  not  for  them;  they  never  asked  for  it, 
neither  did  Christ  offer  it  to  them.  It  would  have  been 
a  chance  for  restoration,  if  there  ever  was  such  a  chance; 
but  this  is  never  hinted.  The  presence  of  Christ  only 
filled  them  with  rage  and  increased  their  malignity.  Be- 
tween them  and  Christ  there  was  nothing  but  incongruity 
and  deadly  antipathy.  They  expected  a  day  of  judg- 
ment, after  which  their  liberty  would  cease  and  they 
would  be  confined  to  their  proper  place.  Of  this  they 
reminded  Christ,  and  sneeringly  asked  him  if  he  had  come 
to  hasten  the  time.  They  evidently  had  a  knowledge  of 
the  future,  which  men  have  not. 

Belief  in  disembodied  spirits  and  their  presence  in 
this  world  has  been  common  in  all  ages,  and  investiga- 
tions of  modern  times  have  tended  to  place  the  belief 
above  that  of  a  mere  superstition,  even  in  the  opinion  of 
those  naturally  skeptical.  Only  the  most  ignorant  and 
bigoted  treat  the  subject  with  a  sneer.  We  may  sup- 
pose that  the  very  presence  of  Christ  revealed  the  devils 
as  they  have  not  been  revealed  at  any  other  time.  Evil 
is  always  stirred  the  presence  of  goodness.  Antipa- 
thies declare  themselves  as  well  as  affinities.  We  see  exam- 
ples of  this  in  a  small  way  in  our  every  day  life,  evil  men 
when  brought  into  conflict  with  virtue  and  goodness,  ex- 
hibit some  of  the  rage,  frenzy  and  gnashing  of  teeth  of 
the  demons  in  Christ's  time.  The  revelation  of  this  to  a 
higher  degree  is  accounted  for  by  the  higher  degree  of 
antipathy,  when  the  perfect  holy  comes  into  contact  with 
the  perfect  wicked.  Moreover,  there  was  in  and  about 
Christ  something  of  the  other  world,  which  the  devils 
recognized,  and  which  in  a  sense  brought  them  on  com- 
mon ground.    For  this  reason  we  never  notice  either 


Future  Punishment.  127 

surprise  or  fear  on  the  part  of  Christ  in  his  encounters 
with  the  devils.  What  we  would  regard  as  supernatural 
and  be  startled  at,  Christ  meets  as  something  with  which 
he  is  perfectly  familiar.  It  is  the  forces  of  the  super- 
natural and  invisible  world  that  meet;  Christ,  belonging 
to  another  world  revealing  himself  in  this,  compels  the 
devils  to  reveal  themselves  when  they  come  into  contact. 
Thus  for  a  season  the  veil  is  lifted. 

These  revelations  from  the  spirit  world  teach  that 
wicked  persons  live  on  after  death  and  remain  wicked. 
There  is  no  expression  of  hope,  either  of  restoration  or 
annihilation,  they  take  it  for  granted  they  will  continue 
as  they  are,  only  fearing  they  will  fare  worse.  If  it  were 
possible  with  God  to  annihilate  evil  spirits,  then  we  would 
suppose  Satan  and  the  devils  would  have  been  annihila- 
ted ages  ago,  seeing  they  have  not  only  been  of  no  use, 
but  have  wrought  much  harm. 

In  comparing  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  Bible 
on  this  subject  with  that  of  modern  liberalism  and  the 
new  theology  we  notice  a  sharp  contrast.  On  the  one 
hand  there  is  an  evident  intention  to  set  before  men  a 
solemn  warning  of  the  consequences  of«a  wicked  life  to 
inspire  them  with  terror  at  the  possibilities  that  lie  before 
them  in  their  downward  career.  On  the  other  hand 
there  is  an  equally  avowed  effort  to  allay  this  terror,  to 
contradict  this  warning,  to  minimize  the  danger  and 
counteract  the  impression  made  by  the  Word  of  God. 
It  is  not  a  mere  contradiction  of  words  and  passages,  it 
is  a  plain  contradiction  of  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  the 
Bible  on  this  subject.  Of  course  they  easily  gain  their 
object,  for  men  do  not  like  to  face  the  result  of  a  godless 
life.  They  are  willing  to  be  persuaded  there  is  no  hell, 
or  that  it  does  not  amount  to  much;  the  most  superficial 


128  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

reasoning  to  this  efifect  is  apt  to  have  more  weight  than 
the  twofold  revelation  of  the  Bible  and  experience.  The 
avidity  with  which  they  seize  on  such  ways  of  escape 
as  second  probation,  restoration  or  annihilation,  rather 
than  availing  themselves  of  the  one  way  of  escape  God 
has  provided,  is  additional  proof  that  they  are  deceiving 
themselves.  When  men  flee  from  repentance  and  refor- 
mation to  lay  hold  on  such  schemes,  we  may  know 
that  they  are  "  refuges  of  lies."  There  is  no  end  of  efforts 
to  provide  the  ungodly  with  such  nowadays.  Hell  is  not 
likely  to  be  abated  by  these  "  refuges  of  lies  "  so  indus- 
triously provided  and  seized  upon  with  equal  avidity,  In 
the  words  of  Scripture  "  ye  have  strengthened  the  hands  of 
the  wicked,  that  he  should  not  return  from  his  wicked 
way,  by  promising  him  life." 

No  one  should  undertake  to  promise  the  impenitent 
a  way  of  escape  other  than  that  God  has  provided,  or  a 
second  chance  besides  the  one  God  has  set  before  us,  un- 
less he  can  make  good  his  promises.  In  taking  upon 
himself  the  responsibility  of  promising  the  impenitent  a 
second  probation  in  the  other  world,  does  he  know  in 
fact  that  he  can*  provide  the  impenitent  with  a  second 
probation.  The  impenitent  is  quite  likely  to  depend  on 
the  promise,  for  there  is  scarcely  one  of  them  but  what 
like  to  put  off  their  repentance  and  reformation  at  least 
as  long  as  they  think  it  safe.  Dives  asked  for  someone 
to  be  sent  from  the  spirit  world  to  warn  his  relations  that 
there  is  no  second  probation,  and  that  they  had  better  do 
their  repentance  here:  no  one  was  sent,  however,  the 
answer  was  that  Moses  and  the  prophets  are  sufficient  for 
anyone  who  will  at  all  accept  warning.  The  church  has 
so  considered  in  all  ages.  Those  that  have  theories  of  a 
second  probation  have  to  go  outside  the  Bible  for  them^ 


Future  Punishment.  129 

or  at  best  depend  on  the  science  of  evasion  and  equivo- 
cation. It  is  not  merely  that  a  great  many  passages  are 
against  it,  but  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Bible  is  decidedly 
opposed  to  it.  Sinners  are  warned  in  view  of  approach- 
ing death  and  judgment,  after  judgment  the  eternal 
"come  or  depart;"  warned  in  view  of  the  possibility 
of  dying  in  their  sins,"  this  would  not  need  the  em- 
phasis Christ  puts  upon  it,  if  they  might  repent  of  their 
sins  and  be  saved  after  death;  warned  against  hardening 
their  hearts,  for  ''to-day  is  the  day  of  salvation,"  and  the 
hardening  process,  we  know  from  experience,  is  very 
rapid.  "  Watch,"  says  Christ,  "for  ye  know  not  what 
day  or  hour  the  Son  of  man  cometh;"  to  be  taken  unpre- 
pared is, according  to  Christ,  the  loss  of  our  chance; 
this  it  would  not  be  if  there  was  room  for  preparation  in 
the  world  to  come.  But  more  than  all,  Christ  brings  be- 
fore us  in  parables  and  illustrations  departed  spirits,  who 
seemingly  did  repent,  or  desired  a  chance  to  do  so,  but 
the  door  remained  unopened,  as  in  the  parable  of  the 
foolish  virgins,  and  those  "  many,"  who  "  in  that  day" 
should  plead  for  entrance,  but  Christ  represents  himself 
as  refusing  their  overtures  and  tells  them  to  "depart." 
Neither  does  the  Bible  make  any  difference  in  favor  of 
the  heathen.  St.  Paul  argues  their  case  in  the  first  chap- 
ter to  the  Romans,  and  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
are  without  excuse.  "  Fewer  stripes,"  says  Christ,  "  for 
those  that  can  plead  ignorance,  but  the  guilt  essentially 
the  same;  all  the  guilt  and  much  of  the  ignorance  is  will- 
ful; if  they  had  loved  the  light,  they  would  not  have 
been  walking  all  this  time  in  darkness.  The  heathen 
world  is  very  much  like  the  rest  of  the  world;  it  is  true  of 
them  as  of  vast  numbers  in  Christian  lands,  that  they 
love  the  darkness  which  involves  them.    The  church  in 


I30  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

general  believe  that  the  atonement  of  Christ  availed  for 
all,  and  that  those  who  feared  God  and  worked  right- 
eousness are  accepted  through  Christ,  although  they  have 
not  heard  of  his  life  and  death.  But  the  Bible  also  teaches 
that  although  they  may  be  saved  without  this  knowledge, 
yet  they  are  Hkely  not  to  be,  but  may  if  it  is  brought  to 
them.  It  clearly  teaches  that  by  our  efforts,  or  our 
neglect,  we  may  "save  a  soul  from  death,"  or  cause 
someone  to  **perish."  "If  thou  dost  not  speak  to  save 
the  wicked  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die  in 
his  iniquity."  Scripture  represents  the  servants  of  God 
as  watchmen  upon  the  walls  of  a  city,  to  warn  of 
impending  danger;  our  second  probationists  are  rather 
interested  in  proving  to  us  that  there  is  no  immediate 
danger,  but  when  they  shall  say.  Peace  and  safety,  then 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  and  they  shall 
not  escape." 

While  what  is  taught  by  Christ  and  the  Bible  in  re- 
gard to  the  future  of  the  wicked,  all  lies  within  the  range 
of  possibilities,  and  is  only  the  degradation  and  pain  in- 
volved in  our  nature,  and  which  may  be  evolved  in  fut- 
ure ages;  yet  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  human  mind  and 
nerve  in  our  present  state  to  entertain  a  vivid  realization 
of  it,  or  make  it  part  of  our  consciousness.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  those  that  are  confessedly  least  able  to  do  so, 
are  most  forward  with  their  interpretations  and  expla- 
nations. But  the  Amighty  has  put  them  under  no  obli- 
gation to  explain  it,  much  less  of  explaining  it  away. 
We  may  leave  to  Christ  the  responsibility  of  his  own 
teaching.  If  we  presume  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
on  this  subject,  we  may  do  so  in  his  very  words,  and 
should  be  particularly  careful  not  to  go  beyond  them,  if 
mind  and  heart  is  terrified  and  muddled  on  the  question. 


Future  Punishment.  131 

We  can  not  read  the  Bible  without  being 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  sense  of  fear  in 
man  is  very  largely  appealed  to.  What  is  natural 
in  this  respect  has  come  to  be  looked  upon  with 
much  disfavor;  it  is  supposed  to  be  against  the 
dignity  of  man  to  appeal  to  his  sense  of  fear.  Man, 
indeed,  even  at  his  worst,  is  capable  of  the  con- 
ception of  disinterested  virtue;  but  the  idea  is  rather  an 
abstraction  than  a  realization.  Man  has  never  seen 
virtue  or  vice,  wrong  or  right,  wholly  apart  from  their 
legitimate  consequences,  and  it  would  probably  be  im- 
possible in  one's  mind  wholly  to  disassociate  them.  Man, 
even  at  his  best,  is  not  so  impressed  with  the  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  but  what  he  may  need  to  have 
it  emphasized  by  the  different  results  attending.  And 
the  measure  of  the  distinction  is  seen  in  the  infinite  differ- 
ence between  the  extremes  of  the  bottomless  pit,  to 
which  he  may  descend,  and  the  exaltation  to  which  he 
may  attain.  This  difference  teaches  the  infinite  distinc- 
tion between  right  and  wrong,  virtue  and  vice,  and  we 
perceive  how  much  the  one  ought  to  be  loved  for  its  own 
sake,  and  the  other  abhorred. 

We  are  treating  of  fear  as  a  motive  in  moral  action; 
of  course,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  fear  that  is  ignoble. 
We  can  imagine  a  state  in  which  there  would  be  no 
emotion  of  fear,  but  it  is  very  certain  that  man  is  not  in 
that  state.  He  is  not  dignified  above  fear,  unless  he  is 
raised  above  danger  and  pain,  but  these  are  the  mostfamil- 
iar  experiences  of  our  world.  Man  is  surrounded  by  ele- 
ments and  forces,  on  which  he  depends  for  life  and  com- 
fort, but  which  may  at  any  time  overwhelm  him  with 
danger  and  pain,  that  he  has  neither  power  to  resist  nor 
strength  to  endure.    His  body  is  a  marvel  of  sensitive- 


132  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

ness,  physical  pain  may  be  produced,  that  one  would  not 
willingly  submit  to,  even  for  a  few  minutes,  to  gain  the 
joys  of  a  lifetime.  His  mind  and  soul  is  equally  sensi- 
tive; what  agony  of  bereavement,  of  disappointed  hopes, 
lost  opportunities,  wasted  life,  remorse;  what  depth  of 
misery  in  a  human  look  of  anguish,  or  shriek  of  despair. 
Man  has  in  his  nature  capacity  for  pain  and  degradation, 
enough  to  overwhelm  him  with  fear,  if  he  realized  it. 
The  boasted  courage  of  those  that  decry  the  motive  of 
fear,  is  but  the  cowardice  that  dare  not  face  the  facts 
that  are  most  common  in  life.  Rational  and  scriptural 
fear  is  but  the  proper  realization  of  these  facts  and  the 
wisdom  of  it  is  in  comprehending  their  meaning  and 
profiting  by  the  application.  The  purpose  may  be  de- 
feated when  the  carnal  mind  refuses  to  yield  to  this  wis- 
dom; in  this  case  the  subject  may  either  drown  his  fear 
in  dissipation,  or  the  carnal  mind  may  seek  a  refuge  in 
fanaticism,  and  superstitious  performings;  he  may  assume 
a  false  zeal  that  would  fain  demontrate  claims  to  piety 
and  God's  favor  by  the  very  crimes  which  God,  above 
all  things,  abhors. 

Even  in  the  true  Scriptural  sense,  fear  is  not  the 
noblest  of  emotions,  neither  is  man,  perverted,  worldly 
and  wicked  at  once  capable  of  the  noblest  emotions. 
Fear  must  be  the  beginning  of  his  wisdom,  the  rational 
fear  of  the  Gospel,  a  sober  apprehension  of  danger,  a 
realization  of  the  nature  of  sin  and  its  consequences. 
This  fear  on  the  part  of  the  sinner  is  the  most  natural 
and  rational  of  all  emotions,  and  is  the  foundation  of  all 
true  work  of  spiritual  awakening.  Where  it  is  lacking, 
repentance  is  lacking  and  the  work  is  superficial.  It  is 
inspired,  not  necessarily  by  noise  and  fierceness,  but  by 
spiritual  earnestness,  combined  with  a  faithful  presenta- 


Future  Punishment.  133 

tion  of  the  facts  .of  Revelation  and  Nature.  In  the  series 
of  great  revivals  between  the  latter  part  of  the  '20's  and 
'57,  in  which  Charles  G.  Finney  was  the  leading  spirit, 
we  find  it  indicated  in  his  sermons  that  special  stress  was 
laid  upon  three  doctrines;  first,  the  damnable  nature  of 
sin  and  its  everlasting  woe,  the  atonement  of  Christ  a 
vicarious  sacrifice  for  sin,  the  absolute  need  of  regenera- 
tion and  a  holy  character.  The  converts  of  these  re- 
vivals constituted  the  marrow  and  sinews  of  the  church 
for  half  a  century,  whole  communities  were  morally  re- 
generated, a  moral  stamina  was  evolved  which  made  it 
possible  to  overthrow  slavery,  and  came  near  doing  the 
same  with  the  liquor  traffic. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  LODGE. 

"They  have  run  greedily  after  error." — Jude. 
*'  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,"  says  the 
Holy  Scriptures;"  "  it  is  not  subject  to  God's  law,  neither 
indeed  can  be."  The  law  of  God  in  its  highest  applica- 
tion, is  spiritual,  this  the  carnal  mind  fails  to  apprehend, 
it  does  not  even  perceive  the  relation  and  the  obliga- 
tion, to  which  it  ought  to  be  subject;  hence  the  suc- 
cess of  false  systems  of  religion,  even  in  the  presence  of 
the  true.  The  false  systems  may  be  either  wholly  out- 
side Christianity,  or  they  may  be  perversions,  even  as 
Christianity  has  been  perverted  in  all  ages,  eliminating 
the  spiritual  element,  and  retaining  only  what  pertains  to 
outward  rules  of  conduct,  coupled  with  rites  and  cere- 
monials to  represent  the  spiritual.  It  is  a  striking  fact 
that  where  Christianity  has  been  sufficiently  perverted 
to  suit  the  carnal  mind,  there  the  American  Secret  So- 
ciety systems  of  religious  symbolism  and  ceremonials 
are  but  little  known;  but  here,  where  there  is  no  State 
Church,  and  where  the  churches,  at  least  to  a  large  ex- 
tent, recognize  the  spiritual  element  in  Christianity,  and 
in  some  measure  insist  on  their  requirements,  here  this 
kind  of  societies  flourish  to  a  surprising  extent.  Men 
must  have  some  kind  of  religion,  and  if  the  state  does 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.  135 

not  furnish  the  kind  they  want,  they  will  see  to  it  them- 
selves. 

Where  secret  societies  do  exist  in  foreign  countries, 
they  have  generally  some  distinct  object  apart  from  the 
religious  and  social,  sometimes  opposition  to  civil  or 
ecclesiastic  tyranny.  Thus,  Freemasonry  in  Roman  Cath- 
olic countries,  has  the  avowed  object  of  opposition  to  the 
encroachment  of  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  here  it  ex- 
ists mainly  for  social  and  religious  purposes,  coupled,  no 
doubt,  with  more  or  less  distinct  plans  for  mutual  pro- 
tection and  self-aggrandizement.  What  is  true  in  this 
respect  of  Freemasonry  is  true  of  its  various  imitations 
too  numerous  to  mention. 

The  stress  laid  upon  the  religious  feature  of  the 
lodge  depends  largely  on  the  object  in  view,  with  which 
one  has  joined  it.  To  some  the  social  advantages  are 
the  main  attractions;  to  others  mutual  help  and  insur- 
ance is  a  consideration;  this  should  not  be  called  bene- 
volence as  it  generally  is,  it  is  not  benevolence  to  pay 
when  an  obligation  has  been  incurred;  the  societies  are 
in  this  respect  no  more  benevolent  than  a  common  insur- 
ance society  and  often  not  so  much  so,  for  the  lodges  gen- 
erally spend  more  in  keeping  up  the  show  than  an  insur- 
ance company  does  on  running  expenses.  Professional 
men,  including  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  join  the  societies 
for  professional  advantages  to  advertise  themselves  and 
get  custom.  Politicians  join  them  and  run  them  as 
political  machines.  The  timid  join  them  for  protection, 
and  the  aggressive  to  further  their  schemes;  and  here  is 
one  of  the  causes  why  "judgment  standeth  afar  off,  and 
justice  doth  not  overtake  "  the  transgressor.  Justice 
must  labor  under  disadvantages  where  the  population 
is  parceled  up  into  secret  societies,  for  whatever  the 


1 36  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

avowed  object  of  these  societies,  they  can  hardly  fail  to 
foster  a  spirit  of  clannishness  and  partiality  unfavorable  to 
an  even  balance  and  fair  dealing.  A  secret  society  is  a 
war  measure,  in  a  population  united  on  the  common 
ground  of  justice  and  patriotism,  it  could  have  no  place; 
when  found  it  must  be  an  object  of  suspicion  and  lead  to 
counter-societies  organized  in  defense.  But  it  is  not 
our  object  to  deal  with  this  aspect  of  the  question,  but 
simply  to  view  it  from  a  religious  point  of  view. 

Whatever  of  mixed  motives  there  may  be  in  joining 
these  societies,  or  whatever  regard  one  may  have  for  the 
religion  of  the  lodge,  that  this  religion  is  a  main  feature 
and  prominent  characteristic  is  patent  without  any  inves- 
tigation of  their  oft-revealed  mysteries.  So  much  is  this 
the  case  that  the  societies  may  fairly  be  called  religious 
institutions,  with  religious  systems,  their  claims  in  this 
respect  are  scarcely  a  whit  behind  that  of  any  church, 
and  their  religious  features  are  as  pronounced  and  well- 
defined.  One  may  not  take  any  stock  in  this  religion 
but  it  is  there  all  the  same,  and  it  is  there  to  fill  a  want 
and  answer  a  purpose,  and  undoubtedly  it  does  answer 
the  purpose  of  a  religious  system  to  the  bulk  of  the  mem- 
bers. Nearly  half  the  population  of  the  United  States 
is  outside  the  churches.  The  lodge  may  fairly  be  said 
to  be  their  church,  and  its  religion  their  dependence. 
And  it  fairly  claims  to  fill  this  want  and  answer  this  pur- 
pose in  every  respect,  as  for  instance  when  a  Masonic 
manual  of  the  highest  authority  says  of  the  master  mason 
after  taking  the  third  degree.  "  We  now  find  man  com- 
plete in  morality  and  intelligence,  with  a  stay  of  religion 
added,  to  insure  him  protection  of  the  Deity  and  guard 
him  against  ever  going  astray.  These  three  degrees 
thus  form  a  perfect  and  harmonious  whole,  nor  can  we 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.  137 

conceive  that  anything  can  be  suggested  more,  which  the 
soul  of  maa  requires."    In  a  manual  of  the  same  lodge 
we  read  at  the  taking  of  the  first  degree:    "  There  he 
stands  without  our  portals  on  the  threshold  of  his  new 
Masonic  life,  in  darkness,  helplessness  and  ignorance, 
having  beien  wandering  amid  the  errors  and  covered  over 
with  the  filth  and  pollutions  of  this  outer  and  profane 
world,  he  comes  inquiringly  to  our  doors,  seeking  the 
new  birth,  and  asking  a  withdrawal  of  the  veil  which 
conceals  divine  truth  from  his  uninitiated  right."    To  the 
professed  Christian  who  joins  the  lodge  this  confession 
may  not  be  wholly  out  of  order,  but  in  regard  to  the 
promises  there  is  more  doubt.     Quotations  like  the 
above  might  be  multiplied,  but  they. will  suffice  to  show 
the  claims  of  the  lodge  as  a  soul-saving  religion.    It  is 
practically  the  same  in  all  the  various  imitations  of  Free- 
masonry.   These  claims  find  likewise  expression  in  the 
symbolism  and  ceremonials  of  the  lodge  room.  They 
have  their  temples,  their  chaplain,  priests  or  grand  high 
priest,  prayers  and  confessions,  or  what  answer  to  it  in 
their  initiation;  their  solemn  rites  and  symbols  illustrating 
their  religious  and  moral  teaching,  and  to  crown  it  all, 
they  have  their  grand  lodge  above,  where  they  promise 
to  meet,  and  their  solemn  funeral  rites,  where  the  de- 
parted is  speeded  on  his  way  to  said  upper  lodge  with 
much  prayer  and  ceremony.    In  the  words  of  the  quota- 
tion, "  what  more  can  be  suggested  which  the  soul  of 
man  requires"  if  the  claims  and  pretensions  are  well- 
founded  then  what  is  provided  is  sufficient,  if  they  are 
not  well  founded  then  it  is  a  serious  mockery. 

It  has  been  objected  by  some  that  Christ's  name  is 
generally  omitted  from  their  prayers  and  teaching,  and 
in  some  instances  purged  from  the  Bible  they  use.  As 


13B  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

an  objection  against  the  religion  of  the  lodge  it  is  not 
well  taken.  In  that  they  refrain  from  mixing  the  name 
of  Christ  with  their  service  and  worship,  they  do  well,  it 
would  only  be  added  blasphemy  to  use  it  in  connection 
with  it,  and  the  use  of  it  would  certainly  not  make  it  any 
the  more  Christian.  The  mere  use  of  the  name  of  Christ 
in  prayers  and  ritual  does  not  constitute  Christianity  or 
a  church. 

It  is  said  by  naturalists  that  man  is  a  religious  ani- 
mal, he  will  and  must  have  some  religion;  if  the  true 
does  not  suit,  false  ones  will  be  invented.  And  yet  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  these  false  religions  will  have  noth- 
ing whatever  of  truth  and  beauty  about  them.  Man,  in 
his  fallen  state,  has  a  complex  nature,  he  is  not  a  devil 
even  when  he  is  not  a  saint.  While  his  mind  is  carnal 
and  does  not  comprehend  spiritual  truths  in  their  highest 
application,  yet  he  can  appreciate  moral  qualities  and  the 
beautiful  in  character.  If  we  should  suppose  the  spirit 
of  this  world  to  plan  a  religion  to  suit  this  complex  na- 
ture, how  would  he  go  to  work;  he  would  not  produce  a 
system  of  which  nothing  good  could  be  said,  that  would 
offend  the  natural  taste  of  man  by  its  very  ugliness.  If 
Satan  himself  should  come  among  us  would  he  come  with 
horns  and  hoof  protruding,  does  he  wish  to  alarm  us, 
would  he  not  rather  come  "  arrayed  like  an  angel  of  light?" 
And  if  this,  who  is  called  a  "  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning" should  attempt  to  poison  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  children  of  men,  would  he  present  the  poison  unadul- 
terated, admitting  it  to  be  such,  would  he  not  rather  dis- 
guise it  in  some  semblance  of  truth?  Satan  is  a  fisher 
of  man,  but  he  does  not  expect  him  to  bite  on  the  naked 
point,  some  bait  must  envelop  it. 

But  suppose,  again,  that  the  spirit  of  this  world 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.  139 

should  wish  to  invent  a  religion  for  the  children  of  this 
world,  how  would  the  secret  society  system  as  repre- 
sented by  Freemasonry  answer.  It  is  not  unadulterated 
moral  poison — there  is  a  semblance  of  truth  about  it. 
The  ugliness  is  not  so  exposed  but  what  the  veriest 
worldling  might  mistake  it  for  the  beauty  of  an  angel  of 
light.  Indeed,  it  is  generally  said  to  be  beautiful,  that  is, 
the  symbols,  ritual,  etc.  There  is  something  for  the  world- 
ling to  bite  on  besides  the  naked  hook.  There  is  mo- 
rality enough  to  satisfy  any  respectable  worldling,  and  re- 
ligion enough  to  suit  his  tastes  and  appetites.  Besides 
this,  there  are  titles,  distinctions  and  honors;  the  lodge 
has  raked  together  everything  of  this  sort  in  the  whole 
wide  world,  civil  and  ecclesiastic,  it  is  all  at  the  disposal 
of  the  lodge,  as  though  its  evil  spirit  perfectly  understood 
the  ridiculous  vanity  and  pride  of  men  and  was  willing 
to  gratify  them  to  the  utmost.  Is  it  one  reason  why  the 
lodge  mania  is  worse  in  America  than  elsewhere,  because 
our  democratic  institutions  do  not  furnish  enough  of  this 
glitter  and  show  to  suit  the  natural  craving  of  a  depraved 
appetite. 


The  Christian  religion  teaches  that  the  world  is  cor- 
rupted and  estranged  from  God,  is  drifting  away  from 
God  with  a  tendency  so  strong  that  humanity  unaided 
could  not  resist  it,  nor  be  saved  from  the  inevitable  re- 
sult of  this  drifting.  They  are  possessed  and  ruled  by  a 
spirit  adverse  to  God,  and  which  can  have  no  fellowship 
with  God;  hence,  unless  man  is  changed  and  the  tendency 
of  his  life  set  in  the  opposite  direction,  he  will  be  lost  to 
God  and  heaven  eternally.  Man  is  sufficiently  depraved 
to  be  helpless  in  himself  to  effect  this  change  unaided, 
but  God  has  done  what  he  could  to  help  us.    He  has 


140         Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

revealed  himself  in  this  world  both  by  his  Son  and  by 
his  Spirit.  The  first,  a  visible  revelation  both  of  God's  love 
and  justice  bringing  about  conditions  that  make  it  possi- 
ble for  man  to  be  saved  in  harmony  with  the  require- 
ments both  of  love  and  justice.  The  revelation  of  God's 
Spirit  in  this  world  is  a  felt  presence  and  conscious 
power,  having  access  to  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men, 
and  may  change  heart  and  mind  when  open  to  this  in- 
fluence, this  change  the  Bible  calls  regeneration  or  con- 
version, it  has  been  brought  about  when  man  is  ruled  by 
God's  Spirit,  when  he  recognizes  his  relation  to  God  as  a 
child  to  his  father,  and  is  conscious  of  communion  with 
God.  The  Bible  makes  a  sharp  distinction  between 
those  that  are  regenerated  and  those  that  are  not,  it  is 
the  children  of  God  and  the  children  of  hght  in  contrast 
with  the  children  of  this  world  and  of  darkness.  What- 
ever may  be  the  possibilities  of  good  in  these  latter  in 
their  natural  unsaved  state  they  are  called  "  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins,"  "their  understanding  darkened  be- 
cause of  sin  that  dwelleth  in  them";  they  are  not  conscious 
of,  neither  do  they  perceive  the  spiritual  relation  of  God 
to  his  children.  Christ  and  his  apostles  formed  the  re- 
generated children  of  God  into  a  brotherhood  called  the 
church.  It  was  meant  to  be  a  visible  union  based  on  the 
spiritual  union  which  exists  between  God's  children. 

Remembering  this  radical  distinction  referred  to 
above,  we  may  appreciate  the  force  of  the  words  of  an 
Apostle  when  he  says:  "  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  to- 
gether with  unbelievers,  for  what  fellowship  had  right- 
eousness with  unrighteousness,  and  what  communion  had 
light  with  darkness,  what  concord  had  Christ  with  Belial, 
or  what  part  had  he  that  believed  with  an  infidel — where- 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.  141 

fore  come  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  separate.' 
Consider  one  of  these  supposed  children  of  God,  a  broth- 
er in  their  brotherhood,  finding  their  companionship  in- 
sufficientor  unsatisfactory,  joining  abrotherhood  of  those 
the  Bible  calls  the  children  of  this  world  and  of  darkness. 
Having  had  his  mind  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
he  nevertheless  seeks  knowledge  and  light  in  the  lodge 
of  those  the  Scriptures  represent  as  having  their  under- 
standing darkened  because  of  sin  that  dwelled  in  them. 
Having,  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  tasted  the  heavenly 
gift  and  been  made  partaker  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  having 
tasted  the  good  word  of  God  and  the  power  of  the  world 
to  come,"  he  nevertheless  develops  an  unaccountable 
taste  for  the  fooleries  of  the  lodge.  Supposed  to  know 
and  enjoy  the  true  religion  of  Christ,  he  presents  himself 
to  the  lodge  for  new  light,  and  takes  up  with  the  religious 
show  of  those  the  Word  calls  "  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins." 

But  the  lodge  has  foreseen  that  objections  of  this 
sort  might  arise,  and  it  stands  ready  with  this  promise  to 
the  candidate  to  be  initiated,  that  the  obligations  to 
which  he  has  to  submit  will  not  interfere  with  the  duties 
he  owes  to  God,  his  family  and  the  State.  It  is  a  good 
deal  to  take  the  word  of  the  lodge  for  this,  for  in  doing 
so  we  allow  them  to  define  for  us  what  are  the  duties  we 
owe  to  God  and  our  fellowmen.  The  obligations  direct, 
and  what  is  involved,  cannot  be  fully  disclosed  before- 
hand for  that  is  part  of  the  secret,  but  they  are  definite 
and  unchangeable,  the  same.for  all  who  join.  The  prom- 
ise of  the  lodge  therefore  amounts  to  this,  that  in  their 
own  opinion,  there  is  nothing  about  the  obligations  con- 
trary to  our  duties  as  patriots  and  Christians.  Even  a 
worldly  man  with  a  high  sense  of  honor  might  well 


142  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

pause  before  he  allows  the  lodge  to  determine  for  him 
what  are  his  duties,  and  how  they  would  be  affected  by 
the  lodge  obligations,  for  in  doing  so  he  practically  sur- 
renders his  own  judgment  and  conscience.  But  to  the 
Christiana  radical  difficulty  arises,  he  professes  that  by  his 
conversion  and  consequent  illumination  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  has  received  new  light  concerning  his  duties 
toward  God  and  his  fellowmen,  and  must  henceforth 
measure  them  by  a  different  standard  from  that  of  the 
world.  The  lodge  may  consist  of  respectable  moral  peo- 
ple, but  they  are  not  the  church  of  God's  regenerated 
children,  they  are  what  Christ  calls  "  the  world,"  and  in 
spite  of  respectability  the  Bible  declares  them  "  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sin,"  who  "  do  not  discern  the  things  of 
the  spirit  of  God."  When  the  professed  Christian  there- 
fore, allows  them  to  determine  for  him  what  are  his  du- 
ties toward  God  and  his  fellowmen  he  renounces  his  own 
claim  to  spiritual  illumination,  and  allows  those  to  be  his 
teachers  who  according  to  his  faith  are  wholly  unable  to 
judge  of  his  duties  toward  God  and  his  fellowmen.  In 
acknowledging  the  "Worshipful  Master"  of  the  lodge  he 
practically  renounces  Christ,  who  said  one  is  your  Master 
and  no  one  can  serve  two.  In  joining  a  brotherhood  of 
the  children  of  this  world  he  slights  the  brotherhood  of 
God's  children,  for,  according  to  his  faith,  the  two  are  as 
distinct  as  light  and  darkness. 

But  perhaps  he  does  not  perceive  this  distinction, 
his  church  is  in  such  a  state  that  there  is  apparently  little 
difference.  This  would  not  affect  his  obligation  as  a 
Christian;  he  must  recognize  the  church,  and  the  dis- 
tinction between  it  and  the  world  as  it  is  set  before  him 
in  the  Word  of  God.  If  the  church  is  not  what  it  ought  to 
be  he  must  labor  to  make  it;  if  others  are  not  what  they 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.      •  143 

ought  to  be  it  does  not  relieve  him  from  the  obligation 
of  being  what  Christ  requires. 

But  it  may  be  he  joins  them  as  a  mere  matter  of 
stratagem;  he  hopes  to  do  them  good,  to  bring  them  into 
the  church.  To  put  himself  in  a  false  position  for  the 
sake  of  this  would  be  a  serious  fraud,  involving  a  great 
deal  of  lying.  And  the  expectation  would  not  be  reas- 
onable, for  in  joining  them  he  endorses  them  and  their 
institution  as  good  enough  for  him  and  them.  He  ac- 
knowledges not  only  that  they  are  good  enough,  but  bet- 
ter than  himself,  for  he  has  to  assume  the  place  of  a  nov- 
ice or  disciple  and  accept  them  as  teachers  and  masters. 

But  members  of  the  lodges  are  largely  members  of 
the  churches,  the  minister  himself  may  be  a  member,  and 
they  are  all  pronounced  good  and  efficient  in  church  work. 
There  are  many  standards  of  goodness,  and  one  may  be 
good  whether  a  Pagan  or  Jew,  a  Christian  or  an  infidel, 
but  if  what  is  popularly  known  as  being  "  good  "  is  all  that 
is  required,  then  the  Christian  religion  would  be  a  super- 
fluity, for  it  is  well  known  that  men  can  be  good  in  this 
sense  withoutit.  It  would  also,  in  this  case,  be  mistaken, 
for  it  does  not  admit  that  this  "goodness"  is  good 
enough. 

A  minister  though  a  lodge  member  may  be  success- 
ful in  church  work,  neither  grace  nor  faith  is  needed  for 
this  kind  of  success,  and  some  of  our  churches  look  as 
though  they  had  been  built  up  by  unsanctified  hands  and 
"untempered  mortar."  Success  in  winning  souls  to 
Christ  cannot  be  too  highly  commended,  but  the  church 
is  apt  to  fall  into  the  error  of  the  world,  and  worship  suc- 
cess no  matter  of  what  kind  or  how  achieved.  It  is  not 
true,  however,  that  as  ageneral  thing  they  are  successful 
in  building  up  churches,  even  though  they  are  willing  to 


144  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

build  them  up  in  any  way  and  by  any  means.  Only  a 
very  small  per  centage  of  our  young  men  are  in  the 
churches,  the  bulk  of  them  are  in  the  lodges  and  the  sa- 
loons. 

The  secret  lodge  system  is  practically  one,  they  are 
all  sprouts  from  the  same  root.  The  minor  orders  that 
have  a  more  well-defined  purpose,  such  as  temperance, 
patriotism,  insurance,  etc.,  may  indeed  make  it  a  real 
object  to  work  for  such  purposes,  but  on  moral  and  re~ 
ligious  ground  they  are  open  to  the  same  objections  as 
Freemasonry,  of  which  they  are  imitations.  They  con- 
stitute themselves  distinct  brotherhoods,  which  is  not 
that  of  Christ,  they  have  their  grand  masters  more  or 
less  supreme,  they  all  have  religious  rituals,  chaplains, 
prayers,  and  a  grand  lodge  above  where  they  meet  each 
other  after  death  on  the  ground  of  lodge  fellowship  and 
faithfulness  to  the  lodge  while  on  earth.  There  is  yet  a 
verse  of  an  old  temperance  hymn  ringing  in  our  ears  that 
we  used  to  sing  in  a  temperance  society,  which,  although 
open,  had  some  of  the  belongings  of  the  lodge;  it  runs 
thus:  **  Forever  then  forever,  pure  water  be  our  cry — till 
over  Jordan's  river,  we  pass  triumphantly.  Then  where 
in  scenes  of  glory,  where  Eden's  waters  flow  we  will  tell 
our  temperance  story  of  heaven  begun  below."  Pretty  in 
words,  but  false  in  sentiment;  we  passed  over  Jordan's 
river  triumphantly  on  the  strength  of  the  single  virtue  of 
'  temperance.  We  did  not  "sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb"  beyond  the  river,  but  simply  our  temperance  story; 
our  heaven  begun  on  earth  to  be  continued  above,  rested 
on  the  sole  virtue  of  temperance.  Secret  societies,  one 
and  all,  express  the  same  kind  of  sentiment  in  hymns, 
ritual,  and  direct  teaching.  It  has  become  a  **  stock  in 
trade  "  argument  with  the  minor  orders  to  defend  their 


The  Church  and  the  Lodge.  145 

religious  parade  by  the  custom  in  Congress  and  like 
bodies  to  open  a  session  with  prayer,  but  the  analogy  is 
lacking  in  the  most  essential  parts.  A  body  of  men  calls 
a  Christian  minister  to  offer  a  Christian  prayer  in  his  ca- 
pacity as  a  Christian  minister,  the  lodge  does  not  do  this, 
they  have  one  duly  qualified  in  his  capacity  as  lodge 
brother,  he  need  not  be  a  Christian  either  nominally  or 
in  fact,  all  the  religion  required  of  him  is  that  of  the 
lodge.  He  represents  this  religion  in  his  prayers  and 
otherwise  in  his  capacity  as  chaplain,  he  offers  his  prayer, 
not  in  the  capacity  of  a  Christian  brother  or  minister,  but 
in  that  of  a  lodge  brother  and  in  harmony  with  the  relig- 
ious system  of  the  lodge,  be  it  what  it  will.  There  is  as 
marked  distinction  between  this  and  Christianity  as  there 
is  between  it  and  any  other  distinct  system  of  religion. 


CHAPTER  X. 


DOCTRINE  OF  SANCTIFICATION. 

It  is  written,  Be  ye  holy  for  I  am  holy." — Peter. 
When  a  soul  has  surrendered  itself  to  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  is  regenerated,  it  is  believed  by 
Christians  that  this  power  continues  and  that  its  effect 
is  a  sanctifying  influence  under  which  a  soul  is  perfected 
in  the  likeness  of  God.  About  this  process  of  sanctifi- 
cation,  there  are  two  theories  among  Protestants,  and 
the  Catholics  have  one  of  their  own.  One  party  among 
Protestants  believe  that  the  process  is  gradual,  the  end 
or  perfection  of  which  they  do  not  profess  to  be  able  to 
lay  their  hands  on  and  say — here  is  it.  This  party 
points  to  passages  in  the  Bible  that  speak  of  "  growth  in 
grace  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,"  "  growing  up  into 
a  perfect  manhood,"  the  kingdom  of  God  within  the  soul 
or  abroad  in  the  world,  like  a  leaven  working  gradually, 
or  like  a  plant  developing  "  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear, 
and  afterwards  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  A  smaller  but 
considerable  party  among  the  Protestants;  while  they 
believe  the  process  may  be  gradual,  at  the  same 
time  hold,  that  it  may  be  dispensed  with  altogether,  and 
the  soul  at  once  by  an  act  of  faith  and  prayer  become 
entirely  sanctified  or  perfected.  This  absolute  work  in 
the  soul  they  describe  as  something  like  a  second  regen- 
eration, for  which  reason  they  sometimes  call  ii  a  second 


Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  i47 

conversion,  second  blessing,  etc.  Their  main  depend- 
ence is  passages  in  the  Bible  where  entire  sanctification 
or  perfection  is  set  before  us  as  a  standard  after  which 
we  must  strive,  or  an  object  for  our  aim  and  attainment. 
The  fact  that  it  seems  to  be  required  is  to  them  sufficient 
reason  for  believing  it  can  be  attained,  and  they  demand 
to  know  if  God  has  set  before  us  a  goal  that  is  unattain- 
able. 

The  Catholic  doctrine  of  sanctification  is  more  com- 
plex. The  peculiarity  of  this  church,  in  its  care  to  relieve 
lay  members  of  responsibility  except  toward  the  church, 
finds  expression  in  their  doctrine  of  sanctification.  Lay 
members  are  relieved  of  the  ancient  obligation  of  saint- 
ship  which  the  Bible  imposes  on  all,  and  in  place  thereof 
a  certain  class  in  the  church  is  endued  with  the  character 
and  office  of  saints.  It  is  believed  that  these  may  not 
only  go  far  in  the  process  of  sanctification,  but  go  farther 
than  there  is  any  need  of.  A  capacity  for  this  may  at 
first  seem  incredible,  but  when  we  remember  the  Catholic 
standard  of  morality  as  it  was  in  the  middle  ages,  and  as 
it  still  is  in  Catholic  countries,  we  may  not  wonder  that 
some  have  been  considered  more  than  good  enough. 
This  superfluity  of  goodness  is  thought  to  be  deposited 
with  the  church,  and  those  who  have  come  short  of  the 
required  standard  may  obtain  what  the^  want  for  a  con- 
sideration. Adoration  of,  and  prayer  to  these  departed 
saints,  become  in  order  also  for  the  purpose  of  becoming 
partaker  in  their  merits  and  intercessions.  It  was  around  • 
this  very  point  that  the  reformation  started:  the  church 
happened  to  be  unusually  hard  up  for  money,  and  ofiered 
to  sell  out  morality  and  the  fear  of  God  entirely  to  get 
the  needed  cash;  this  provoked  the  righteous  soul  of 
Luther,  and  the  spell  was  broken.    Protestants  differ 


148  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

from  the  Catholic  Church  in  this,  that  they  believe  God 
is  abundantly  rich  in  grace  and  mercy,  and  does  not  need 
to  make  merchandise  for  the  poor  virtues  of  doubtful 
saints  in  order  to  supplement  his  own  infinite  resources, 
and  that  he  utterly  refuses  to  divide  his  power,  honor 
and  worship  with  Catholic  saints  or  anyone  else.  The 
Catholic  Church  has  a  place  in  their  creed  for  grace,  faith 
and  repentance,  but  it  is  difficult  to  determine  just  where 
it  comes  in,  with  merits  of  saints,  merits  worked  out  by 
penances,  merits  purchased  of  the  priest,  final  absolution 
and  purgatory,  there  seems  litt4e  need  of  anything  fur- 
ther to  make  sure  of  salvation. 

The  Catholics  not  only  believe  in  partial  but  in  entire 
sanctification,  so  much  so  that  they  profess  none  can  enter 
heaven  without  it.  Here  was  an  opportunity  for  an  in- 
fallible church  with  a  purpose  in  view.  God  had  not  re- 
vealed what  he  would  do  with  the  infirmities  that  might 
cling  to  the  Christian  as  he  departed  this  world,  perhaps 
he  did  not  think  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  know,  but  the 
church  was  equal  to  the  occasion;  they  supplemented 
the  revelation  of  the  Almighty  with  a  plan  of  their  own 
in  the  shape  of  a  purgatory,  where  imperfect  saints 
might  be  perfected  in  purifying  fires.  As  a  financial 
speculation,  purgatory  has  been  a  great  success,  there  is 
money  in  the  s^ing  of  masses  for  afflicted  souls,  but 
otherwise  it  is  not  known  that  anyone  has  had  use  for 
the  invention. 

The  object  in  view  in  redemption  is  plainly  to  pro- 
duce a  character  in  man  that  shall  make  him  fit  for 
heaven  and  its  company,  fit  for  God  and  his  glory.  This 
he  can  only  be  as  he  resembles  God  in  thought,  feeling, 
desire  and  final  purpose.  The  sum  of  this  character  is 
called  holiness.    Character,  we  know,  is  a  personal  mat- 


Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  149 

ter,  it  cannot  be  purchased  or  earned,  it  must  be  devel- 
oped or  wrought  out.  God  and  man  may  help  us  to 
make  character,  but  none  can  impose  it  upon  us  as  a 
gift  or  compliment,  the  help  and  influence  from  God  may 
be  in  the  nature  of  free  gifts,  graces  and  favors  unde- 
served, and  as  natural  in  their  operation  upon  our  mind 
and  heart,  as  that  of  an  earthly  friend  in  his  efforts  to 
help  and  influence  us.  Those  influences  alone  cannot 
produce  character,  it  must  depend  on  the  use  we  make 
of  them,  but  taken  together,  the  various  influences  and 
the  way  we  choose  to  resist  or  yield  to  them  will  result 
in  character,  be  it  what  kind  it  will.  God  represents 
himself  in  the  Bible  as  working  in  many  ways  and  by 
various  means  to  produce  his  own  character  or  likeness 
in  us.  ■  He  has,  in  the  first  place,  revealed  his  character 
to  us  in  his  only  begotten  Son  sent  into  the  world. 
Christ  revealed  the  character  of  God  in  a  two-fold  man- 
ner: first,  by  his  life  and  example,  and  in  an  equal  degree 
by  the  revelation  of  God's  love  and  justice  in  the  plan  of 
redemption.  The  record  of  this  whole  revelation  of 
Christ  in  this  world  we  have  in  the  Bible  and  nowhere 
else.  Also,  here  we  have  recorded  all  that  led  up  to  the 
coming  of  Christ  and  what  followed  after  as  the  comple- 
ment, the  revelation  of  God  through  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  with  instructions,  exhortations  and  warnings, 
both  to  believe  in  God's  revelation  of  himself  and  act  in 
harmony  with  our  faith.  But  the  Bible  also  teaches  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  abroad  in  the  world,  that  he  has 
access  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  even  of  those  that 
have  not  yielded  to  his  influence;  but  he  is  said  to  dwell 
with  those  that  have  surrendered  themselves  to  his  power 
and  guidance.  Moreover,  the  Bible  teaches  that  God 
may  affect  and  influence  us  by  his  providence  in  this 


150  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

world,  trials  and  afflictions  as  well  as  blessings  and  what- 
ever belong  to  the  discipline  of  life  is  ascribed  to  God. 
Both  saint  and  sinner  is  subject  to  this  discipline,  to  the 
one  a  means  of  bringing  to  repentance,  to  the  other  a 
help  in  the  process  of  sanctification.  These  trials  are 
spoken  of  as  purifying  fires;  "  I  have  chosen  them  in  the 
furnace  of  affliction,"  "  He  shall  purge  them  as  silver  is 
purged."  We  may  say  that  there  is  yet  a  fourth  way  in 
which  God  works  both  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  and 
the  sanctification  of  Christians,  it  is  by  the  church. 
Those  that  are  indeed  God's  children  are  a  sanctifying 
power  in  the  world. 

In  making  mention  of  perfection,  a  kind  of  perfection 
is  implied  in  the  fact  of  being  a  Christian.  In  being 
converted  our  will  must  have  been  made  perfect  to  love 
and  serve  the  Lord.  Though  our  love  and  service  may 
not  be  perfect,  our  purpose  must  be.  We  must  be  per- 
fectly sincere.  Without  this  perfect  consecration  of  the 
will  there  can  be  no  conversion.  But  although  the  will 
is  thus  sanctified  and  consecrated,  our  thoughts,  desires, 
imaginations  and  afi*ections  may  not  be  so  perfectly  sub- 
ject to  it  as  to  make  them  perfect.  And  this,  in  like 
manner,  is  true  of  our  judgment.  Although  this  is  not 
in  the  strictest  sense  part  of  our  moral  nature,  yet  our 
moral  nature  and  all  our  acts  are  affected  by  it,  and  un- 
less it  is  perfect  our  moral  nature  cannot  be.  Even  as 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  understanding  being  darkened  by 
sin  that  dwelleth  in  us,  this  is  written  more  especially  with 
reference  to  the  unconverted,  but  this  darkened  under- 
standing is  not  at  once  made  perfect  by  conversion.  The 
need  of  a  sanctifying  influence  in  all  parts  of  our  being 
is  again  emphasized  by  St.  Paul  when  he  prays  to  God 
that  our  whole  being,  soul,  body  and  spirit,  may  be 


Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  iji 

sanctified  and  blameless,  A  quickening  of  our  intellect- 
ual powers  is  always  noticed  in  any  true  conversion, 
sometimes  as  remarkable  as  the  moral  change. 

This  sanctification  of  the  whole  being  is  a  develop- 
ment or  process.  It  is  not  accomplished  by  any  single 
means  or  act,  be  it  either  faith  or  prayer.  We  read  that 
gifts,  or  special  pow^r  for  a  special  purpose,  was  imparted 
at  once  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  generally  in  connection  with 
prayer  and  the  laying  on  of  hands,  but  never  that  a  per- 
fect character  or  entire  sanctification  was  thus  imparted. 
The  higher  regions  of  the  soul's  development  is  not 
reached  in  a  single  leap  or  bound.  There  is  no  shortcut 
by  which  the  struggles  and  strivings,  the  discipline  and 
labors  of  soul,  mind  and  heart  can  be  dispensed  with.  The 
noblest  traits  of  character,  and  the  well  balanced  symmet- 
rical whole,  is  not  produced  at  once  by  the  excitement  of 
a  holiness  meeting.  Faith  and  prayer  and  meetings  are 
indeed  means  in  the  process;  so  is  truth,  "sanctify  us 
by  thy  truth  "  so  is  the  various  discipline  of  life,  to  which 
much  efficacy  is  ascribed  in  the  Bible,  and  so  in  short  is 
everything  that  tends  to  make  us  better. 

Aboutperfection  in  the  absolute  sense,  it  is  not  wise 
for  us  to  pretend  to  know.  Man  with  his  finite  mind  does 
not  comprehend  what  is  absolute.  Perfection  once 
walked  the  earth,  but  was  mistaken  for  a  criminal  and 
hanged  on  a  tree.  In  a  relative  sense,  men  are  sometimes 
said  to  be  perfect,  as  Job  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  per- 
fect man  and  one  that  feared  God,  perfect  in  the  sense 
that  no  serious  fault  could  be  found  about  him.  His 
own  estimate  of  man's  perfection  in  comparison  with  God's 
absolute  perfection  is  such  that  in  the  presence  of  it,  he 
exclaims  "I  am  vile."    And  he  confessed  "  how  should 


152  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

man  be  just  with  God,  if  he  will  contend  with  him, 
he  cannot  answer  him  one  of  a  thousand."  Men  are 
proverbially  prone  to  overlook  their  own  faults,  they  have 
need  of  praying  with  David  "  cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 
faults,  keep  back  also  thy  servant  frompresumptuous  sin." 
If  we  fail  to  see  our  secret  faults,  we  may  have  the  pre- 
sumption to  believe  ourselves  perfect,  but  in  view  of  the 
flaws  and  faults  so  apparent  to  others,  the  claim  of  per- 
fection or  entire  sanctification  is  generally  pitiable.  A 
Christian  who  might  be  honored  and  respected  if  he  takes 
his  place  in  humility,  and  leaves  it  to  others  to  judge  of 
his  attainments  by  his  fruit,  will  be  ridiculous  when  he 
makes  pretention  to  a  perfection  the  imperfection  of  which 
is  apparent  to  all.  Many  who  claim  that  they  have  been 
converted  twice  over,  may  be  glad  if  they  can  make  out- 
siders believe  they  have  been  converted  once  for  good. 

Yet  there  are  higher  degrees  of  Christian  experience 
and  greater  excellencies  of  character  than  the  lowest 
compatible  with  a  state  of  grace.  The  heights  and  depths 
of  the  possibilities  of  character  and  of  Christian  attain- 
ments reach  into  the  infinite,  and  are  lost  to  view  from 
earthly  sight.  No  doubt  Christians  have  sometimes  had 
wonderful  revelations  of  these  possibilities,  and  their 
testimony  to  a  sudden  or  great  enlargement  may  well 
be  believed,  for  the  process  of  sanctification  is  not  smooth 
and  even  through  life;  sometimes  a  crisis  will  occur  when 
our  powers  are  stirred  to  the  utmost,  a  great  trial  to  be 
endured,  a  severe  conflict  of  temptation  to  be  overcome, 
or  a  great  work  to  be  accomplished;  when  one  comes  out 
victorious  from  such  a  conflict,  then  there  is  a  sudden  and 
great  enlargement  which  some  may  have  mistaken  for  the 
whole  of  it,  but  after  all  it  is  only  a  quickening  step  in  the 
process,  the  springtime,  as  it  were,  in  our  spiritual  de- 


Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  153 

velopment,  but  every  wind  and  every  season  should  help 
to  bring  forward  the  process. 

Undoubtedly,  perfection  even  in  the  absolute  sense 
is  set  before  us  in  the  Bible  as  the  standard  after  which 
we  must  strive,  God  could  do  nothing  less,  and  man  may 
do  nothing  less.  The  alternative  of  a  perfect  standard  is 
one  that  is  imperfect,  and  neither  God  nor  man  could  set 
before  us  an  imperfect  standard  to  aim  after.  We  must 
have  a  perfect  pattern  to  work  after  whether  or  not  we 
can  perfectly  imitate  it.  It  will  not  do  in  this  case  to  say 
our  aims  or  our  striving  is  fruitless  or  unreasonable  unless 
perfection  can  be  attained  to,  for  everything  does  not  de- 
pend on  this  definite  result.  If  a  soul  is  converted  he  is 
according  to  the  faith  of  all  saved,  his  salvation  is  not 
staked  at  the  perfection  he  is  told  to  strive  for.  Moreover 
his  striving  and  his  efforts  in  the  process  of  his  Christian 
life  is  not  in  vain,  is  not  lost,  even  though  he  may  not 
attain  to  absolute  or  entire  sanctification.  Every  step  to- 
wards perfection,  every  struggle  for  a  higher  life,  is  a  def- 
inite gain.  This  striving  to  better  ourselves  without  gain- 
ing what  is  absolute  or  perfect  is  natural  to  our  earthly 
life;  who  does  not  strive  for  perfect  health  of  body,  yet  a 
body  absolutely  perfect  in  all  respects  can  hardly  be 
hoped  for.  And  so  in  our  struggle  for  development  of 
mind,  we  would  set  before  our  aim  nothing  less  than  a 
perfect  mind,  perfectly  developed,  even  though  the  full 
attainment  would  not  be  within  our  reach. 

For  a  Christian  to  speak  of  entire  sanctification  can 
mean  nothing  less  than  the  perfection  of  his  whole  being; 
his  will  must  already  have  been  entirely  sanctified  and 
consecrated  in  his  conversion,  if  this  has  not  been  done, 
then  what  is  before  him  is  conversion  not  the  end  of 
sanctification.    One  must  surrender  his  will  without  re- 


154  Christianitv  and  Our  Times. 

serve  to  God  before  he  is  in  any  sense  a  child  of  God  of 
a  saved  man.  Yet,  we  often  find  that  the  perfection 
which  perfectionists  are  striving  for,  and  which  they  are 
content  with,  is  something  very  imperfect;  and  what  they 
call  entire  sanctification  is  far  from  being  entire.  But 
these  terms  perfect"  or  "  entire  "  should  not  be  used 
unless  the  whole  was  meant,  it  is  idle  to  use  these  and 
then  begin  to  plead  for  allowances  and  immunities.  En- 
tire sanctification  of  our  whole  body,  soul  and  spirit, 
blameless  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  means  not  only  that 
our  will  should  be  perfect  to  serve  the  Lord,  it  means 
that  we  must  be  perfect  in  every  detail,  our  love,  faith, 
hope,  patience,  and  humility  must  be  perfect;  every 
thought,  feeling,  desire  and  imagination  must  be  perfect; 
and,  indeed,  our  judgmentmust  be  perfect  or  it  will  play 
havoc  with  our  moral  perfection. 

The  greatest  objection  to  the  theory  under  consid- 
eration is  that  it  tends  to  destroy  what  those  who  advance 
it  profess  to  be  particularly  anxious  to  build  up,  thatis, 
holiness.  According  to  the  Bible  there  are  only  two 
classes  of  people,  saints  and  sinners,  converted  or  uncon- 
verted, saved  or  lost.  The  perfectionists  make  three  dis- 
tinct classes,  the  entirely  sanctified  constitute  a  class  of 
superlative  saints,  something  after  the  manner  of  the 
Catholic  church,  which  are  especially  the  embodiment  of 
holiness.  Below  these  there  is  a  class  to  which  salvation 
is  accorded  on  lower  ground,  and  this  ground,  beinglow- 
er  than  that  of  the  first  class,  has  a  tendency  to  be  very 
low,  and  we  often  hear  the  complacency  with  which  some 
church  members  profess  to  be  saved,  but  lay  no  claim  to 
sanctification,  and  evidently  consider  it  a  mere  adjunct  to 
the  Christian  life  that  may  be  dispensed  witli  without 
much  harm. 


Doctrine  of  Sanctification.  155 

Holiness  is  a  necessity  for  all,  not  a  luxury  for  a  few. 
"  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  If  one 
is  not  converted  to  a  holy  life  and  character,  what  is  the 
effect  of  his  conversion;  he  was  carnal  before,  if  nothing 
more  can  be  said  of  him  now,  then  his  faith  is  vain,  faith 
is  dead  and  vain  if  it  is  not  a  means  to  holiness,  and  if 
this  has  not  become  the  result  of  it.  First  a  sanctified 
will  without  which  there  is  neither  true  faith  nor  justifi- 
cation, and  afterwards  a  sanctifying  process  to  which  our 
thoughts,  desires  and  affections,  every  detail  of  life  and 
character  should  be  subjected.  Holiness,  or  similarity 
of  character  to  God,  being  the  end  and  object  of  every- 
thing in  and  about  religion,  associations  for  the  promo- 
tion of  holiness  as  a  special  work  outside  the  church,  be- 
comes a  misnomer.  An  association  for  the  promotion  of 
holiness  is  a  church,  if  a  church  is  not  an  association  for 
the  promotion  of  holiness  it  is  nothing. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


SUNDAY  AND  THE  ADVENTISTS. 

'*  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for 
the  Sabbath."— Christ, 

The  Adventists  are  a  small  flock,  but  exceedingly 
active.  They  have  imposed  their  peculiar  Sabbath  ques- 
tion upon  the  church,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  reluctance 
to  consider  it.  If  an  answer  has  to  be  given  it  is  of  im- 
portance that  it  should  be  truthful.  They  have  sprung 
their  question  upon  the  church  on  many  occasions,  when 
those  that  should  give  an  answer  have  been  unprepared 
or  misinformed,  and  the  answer  has  been  such  as  has 
left  the  advantage  of  truth  and  correctness  with  the 
Adventists. 

If  intimations  of  the  change  are  found  in  the  New 
Testament,  they  would  amount  to  scriptural  proof  and 
evidence  only  as  it  could  be  proven  that  the  apostles  in- 
augurated it.  Their  example  or  direct  teaching  would 
be  sufficient,  for  we  believe  they  had  authority  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  organization  of  the  church 
together  with  rules  and  doctrines  for  its  guidance.  But 
it  seems  at  best  doubtful  that  this  can  be  established. 
It  appears  rather  that  the  change  began  with  the  usual 
custom  of  keeping  a  holiday  in  memory  of  great  persons 
or  great  events,  which  finally  took  the  place  of  the  old 
Sabbath  day.    Some  who  have  very  incoherent  ideas 


Sunday  and  the  Adventists.  157 

about  the  relation  of  law  and  gospel,  new  dispensation 
and  old,  etc.,  find  an  argument  in  this  relation  for  the 
change  of  days,  but  the  supposed  relation  is  fanciful,  and 
the  conclusion  arbitrary.  Others,  again,  when  hard 
pressed,  will  plead  tradition  and  church  authority  with  a 
zeal  that  would  out-catholic  the  Catholics.  How  hard 
it  is  even  for  the  best  of  men  to  be  perfectly  honest. 

It  is  true  that  the  commandment  concerning  the 
Sabbath  is  not  a  necessity  of  our  moral  nature  like  the 
other  commandments.  We  would  know  it  were 
wrong  to  steal,  murder  and  commit  adultery  even  if  there 
were  no  commandments,  but  we  would  not  know  it  were 
wrong  to  labor  on  the  seventh  day  without  a  revelation 
from  the  Almighty.  But  we  can  understand  the  reason 
and  im'portance  of  the  command  when  given,  and  in 
placing  it  among  the  moral  commandments  of  the  law, 
God  has  signified  that  he  holds  it  equally  binding  with 
these.  It  can  not,  therefore,  have  passed  away  with  the 
types  and  ordinances  connected,  with  the  ancient  temple 
service,  which  had  their  fulfillment  at  the  coming  of 
Christ,  it  must  remain  in  force  with  the  moral  law  of 
which  it  is  made  a  part  according  to  the  revealed  will  of 
God.  There  were  holidays  connected  with  the  ancient 
system  of  temple  service,  others  than  the  seventh  day 
Sabbath,  these  are  sometimes  referred  to  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  sabbaths,  we  must  believe  St.  Paul  refers 
to  them  in  the  same  way,  when  he  makes  mention  of 
holidays  and  sabbaths  that  are  not  binding  upon  the 
conscience,  and  of  which  he  tells  his  converts  that  their 
observance  is  a  matter  of  no  moral  significance.  Christ 
and  his  apostles  observed  the  Sabbath  according  to  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  the  commandment,  the  superfluities 
and  impositions  of  the  Pharisees  he  denounced  as  he  did 


158  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

their  inventions  and  misinterpretations  of  the  Scriptures 
in  general. 

Perhaps  the  best  defence  in  favor  of  the  change,  if 
defence  is  attempted,  would  be  the  general  object  of  it — 
that  of  honoring  Christ,  "  He  that  honors  the  Son,  honors 
the  Father  also."  The  Adventists,  however,  might 
answer  to  this,  that  God  has  a  right  to  prescribe  how  he 
will  be  honored,  and  that  it  is  safest  to  keep  within  the 
letter  of  the  law.  This  certainly  would  be  true  if  by  do- 
ing so  we  can  best  observe  the  spirit  of  the  law.  When 
we  speak  of  the  spirit  of  the  law,  we  mean  the  gen- 
eral intention.  Of  course  this  can  never  be  under- 
stood without  the  letter  of  the  law,  strictly  speaking 
there  is  no  spirit  of  the  law  without  the  letter.  But  it  is 
possible  to  lay  peculiar  stress  upon  certain  detaihs  of  the 
letter  of  the  law  and  bydoing  so  contradict  or  violate  the 
general  intent  of  it.  Occasions  may  even  arise  when  it 
is  necessary  to  infringe  upon  certain  details  of  the  letter 
in  order  the  better  to  carry  out  the  intent  of  the  law. 
An  occasion  of  this  kind  undoubtedly  exists  at  present 
with  regard  to  the  Sabbath.  In  order  to  keep  it  and 
make  it  a  general  benefit  as  intended  by  the  command- 
ment, it  is  above  all  things  necessary  that  Christians 
should  agree  upon  one  day.  It  is  true,  now,  more  than 
ever,  that  "  no  man  liveth  to  himself" — we  are  dependent 
upon  each  other  in  nearly  every  field  of  effort.  The  great 
manufacturing  establishments  cannot  be  run  unless  all,  or 
nearly  all,  agree  to  work.  If  essential  disagreement 
about  the  day  to  be  kept  as  Sabbath  should  exist,  then 
neither  of  the  days  disagreed  about  could  be  used  for 
work,  the  consequence  probably  would  be  that  both 
would  be  used,  and  the  Sabbath  ruled  out  altogether, 
this  would  be  the  case  unless  religious  regard  for  the 


Sunday  and  the  Adventists.  159 

Sabbath  should  become  much  greater  than  is  now  the 
case  among  workingmen.  The  same  interdependence 
exists  in  the  commercial  world,  and  even  among  farmers, 
especially  in  the  busiest  season,  unless  all  agree  to  work 
together  there  can  be  no  work,  and  unless  all  agree  to 
keep  "Sabbath  together,  in  most  cases  none  would  be 
kept.  The  Adventists  would  undoubtedly  attempt  to 
brush  aside  these  considerations  simply  by  pointing  to 
the  fact  that  the  strict  letter  requires  Saturday.  But  we 
should  insist  upon  the  whole  of  the  commandment  and 
not  that  part  of  it  only  that  pertains  to  the  particular  day, 
and  if  we  have  to  choose,  then  we  should  insist  upon  the 
more  important  part  of  it.  We  should  persist  in  inquir- 
ing what  is  the  real  object  of  the  commandment;  is  it 
that  of  commemorating  a  certain  day,  event  or  person? 
the  answer  is,  no,  even  as  Christ  said  "  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,"  for  his  benefit,  no  doubt,  physically, 
morally  and  in  everyway.  The  main  question  therefore, 
is  to  secure  to  man  this  benefit,  if  it  can  better  be  secured 
by  continuing  the  accustomed  day  which  nearly  all  agree 
to  keep  then  it  should  be  continued.  The  lesser  consid- 
eration of  a  particular  day  must  not  be  brought  into  con- 
flict with  the  higher  consideration  of  securing  the  benefit 
intended.  As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  this  benefit 
is  largely  dependent  upon  an  agreement  to  keep  one  day, 
this  agreement  exists  now  among  Christians  excepting  a 
small  fraction  of  a  per  cent. 

To  endanger  the  higher  consideration  that  of  the 
benefit  to  be  secured  on  account  of  the  lesser  considera- 
tion, that  of  a  particular  day,  is  not  only  indefensible  on 
the  ground  of  reason,  but  it  is  against  certain  well-de- 
fined and  positive  rules  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures.  We 
are  not  to  allow  matters  of  circumstances  to  defeat  a  true 


i6o  Christianity  and  Gur  Times. 

or  real  benefit,  the  particular  day  is  a  circumstance,  the 
benefit  of  the  day  is  real  and  true.  "  For  meat  destroy 
not  the  work  of  God,"  says  St.  Paul;  this  principle  ap-  • 
plied  to  our  question  would  be:  for  the  sake  of  a  cir- 
cumstance in  keeping  the  Sabbath,  destroy  not  the  Sab- 
bath itself  and  the  benefit  derived  from  it. 

There  is  danger  indeed  that  this  principle  be  applied 
where  it  does  not  belong,  as  it  often  is,  in  these  days  of 
license  and  liberalism.  It  can  be  applied  only  to  what  is 
circumstantial,  not  to  what  has  a  moral  side  or  character 
to  it.  Those  who  claim  liberty  or  license  to  indulge  in 
bad  habits,  in  doubtful  amusements  or  associations  on  the 
ground  of  this  principle  deceive  themselves  and  do  not 
discriminate.  There  is  no  excuse  in  the  Word  of  God  or 
anywhere  for  anything  that  may  do  damage  to  character 
and  endanger  morals,  and  no  one  may  disclaim  censure 
and  judgment  upon  acts  of  any  moral  significance.  When 
St.  Paul  says:  "  let  us  not  therefore  judge  one  another" 
it  is  not  implied  that  we  may  dispense  with  moral  consid 
erations  in  any  way,  and  while  doing  so  claim  immunity 
from  the  judgment  and  censure  both  of  God  and  our  fel- 
lowmen.  Or  when  he  says,  "  follow  after  that  which 
make  for  peace;"  it  is  not  implied  that  truth  and  right- 
eousness, even  in  the  last  degree,  maybe  sacrificed  for 
the  sake  of  peace;  we  may  sacrifice  our  prejudices,  our 
convenience  and  self-interests  for  the  sake  of  peace,  but 
the  truth  and  righteousness  of  God  it  is  not  ours  to  dis- 
pose of  on  this  or  any  other  account.  If  in  keeping  Sun- 
day instead  of  Saturday,  we  sacrifice  a  letter  of  the  law, 
it  is  not  done  to  appease  a  clamor,  but  for  the  sake  of  the 
essential  truth  of  the  commandment,  and  its  practical 
application. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  CRIME. 

Woe  unto  them  that  call  evil  good  and  good  evil." — Isaiah. 

Modern  Sociologists  have  invented  two  terms,  here- 
dity and  environment,  around  which  they  have  woven 
a  creed  that  has  well  nigh  revolutionized  the  thought  and 
and  sentiment  of  the  age.  It  is  not,  indeed,  a  new  doc- 
trine that  birth  and  surrounding  circumstances  power- 
fully influence  the  individual,  but  modern  science  goes 
farther,  it  analyzes  the  human  body  and  fails  to  discover 
a  soul,  but  it  finds  that  body,  brain  and  nerve  consti- 
tute a  machine,  acted  upon  by  extraneou-s  influence, 
which  produces  thought,  feeling  and  action,  and  the  net 
result  we  call  character,  together  with  what  destiny  at- 
taches to  it.  Free  moral  agency  and  responsibility  are 
modes  of  speech.  Our  volitions  are  free  as  the  motion 
of  wheels  in  a  clockwork;  when  we  get  behind  the  wheels 
we  find  springs  and  weights,  which  give  them  a  certain 
inevitable  motion.  Punishment  is  cruel,  for  man  is 
either  the  victim  or  favorite  of  circumstances. 

Modern  Sociologists,  acting  from  these  premises, 
cease  to  appeal  to  man's  power  to  will  or  to  be,  or  to  at- 
tach much  praise  or  blame  to  his  action.  Their  hope 
lies  in  two  directions;  first,  to  repair  and  improve  the 
machine  so  it  will  act  more  harmonious;  and  secondarily, 
to  control  and  arrange  influences  that  shall  be  brought 


i62  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

to  bear  upon  it,  so  as  to  produce  better  thought,  feehng 
and  action. 

The  influence  and  effect  of  this  modern  science  of  so- 
ciology has  been  felt  in  the  church,  even  where  there 
has  been  no  deliberate  surrender  to  it.  The  appeal  to 
man's  free  moral  agency  is  less  unqualified,  his  respon- 
sibility, guilt  and  liability  to  punishment,  here  and  here- 
after, are  brought  home  with  less  assurance  of  certainty. 
The  atonement  for  sin,  connected  with  these  doctrines, 
naturally  share  the  same  fate.  The  tone  assumed 
towards  the  unconverted,  worldly  and  wicked,  is  one  of 
pity  towards  a  helpless  victim  rather  than  blame  upon 
willful  transgressors,  and  the  remedy  is  medication  of 
"the  old  man"  rather  than  death  to  the  body  of  sin,  and 
a  new  life  regenerated.  What  has  been  left  of  Christian- 
ity is  the  sympathetic  beautiful.  This  is  but  a  small 
portion  of  Christianity,  and  consequently  the  new  depar- 
ture and  liberal  theology,  which  have  their  root  and  be- 
ing in  this-  new  science  of  sociology,  can  only  believe  a 
fractional  portion  of  Christianity.  Thence  their  pitiable 
attempts  to  reconcile  the  irreconcilable,  which  inevitably 
ends  in  a  sneer  at  the  Bible.  The  system  of  modern  so- 
ciology and  that  of  the  Bible,  are  as  distinct  as  any  two 
systems  that  ever  confronted  each  other,  and  here  lies 
the  difficulty;  it  is  not  that  the  Bible  has  suffered  by  any 
discovery  of  facts,  it  is  the  different  spirit  which  can  not 
possibly  find  itself  at  home  in  the  Bible. 

Yet,  the  Bible  follows  for  quite  a  little  way  alongside 
this  science.  It  does  not  deny  the  influence  of  environ- 
ment, and  that  some  of  it  is  in  its  nature  evil.  The  un- 
favorable environment  is  spoken  of  under  three  heads; 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  The  felt  influence 
is  called  trials  and   temptations.    This  is  all  familiar 


Sociology  and  Crime.  163 

enough,  but  no  less  scientific  for  that.  In  regard  to 
heredity  and  its  possible  evil  effects  and  tendencies,  even 
modern  sociology  would  not  care  to  go  farther  than 
the  theological  definition  of  total  depravity;  nor  would 
they  wish  to  express  themselves  in  stronger  language 
than  David,  when  he  said:  "I  was  shapen  in  iniquity, 
and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me."  The  Bible  and 
science  unite  in  setting  forth  the  possible  evil  tendencies 
of  heredity  and  environment,  and  both  in  equally  strong 
language.  So  far  they  follow  along  side  each  other,  but 
here  they  part.  Science  says  that  man  must  be  con- 
trolled by  his  environment.  The  Bible  says  that  he  must 
control  it.  The  one  says  he  must  be  made  and  moulded 
by  inherited  evil  tendencies,  the  other  says  he  must  re- 
sist and  overcome  them,  or  be  damned  if  he  does  not.  The 
Bible  does  not  allow  us  to  believe  that  the  effect  of  in- 
fluences and  tendencies  connected  with  environment  and 
heredity  is  identical  with  coercion.  Man's  conscious- 
ness is  evidently  on  the  side  of  the  Bible.  He  can  dis- 
cern and  discriminate  between  the  various  influences 
that  effect  him.  He  is  conscious  of  the  kind  of  motives 
that  prompt  him.  He  recognizes  his  responsibility  in 
the  choice  he  makes,  and  is  conscious  of  blame,  guilt 
and  ill-desert,  or  the  contrary.  One  is  not  helpless,  ex- 
cusable or  irresponsible,  unless  it  can  be  proven  that  he 
is  wholly  unable  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong, 
or  is  impelled  by  some  mechanical  necessity  to  act  in  a 
certain  way;  neither  of  which  is  true  of  any  but  idiots, 
whose  irresponsibility  is  recognized  everywhere.  Being 
incapable  of  the  nicest  distinctions  is  not  fatal  to  one's 
effort  for  improvement;  it  may  reasonably  be  expected 
of  any  one  that  he  shall  do  right  when  he  perceives  what 
is  right,  and  shun  the  wrong  when  he  knows  it  to  be 


1 64  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

wrong.  To  one  who  acts  on  this  principle  the  horizon 
would  soon  widen,  and  the  plan  for  improvement 
broaden. 

Tendencies  and  influences  inherited  or  subjected  to 
by  surroundings  are  so  balanced  with  a  personal  con,- 
scious  individuality,  will  power  and  moral  freedom,  that 
while  parents  and  teachers  may  reasonably  hope  to  effect 
and  influence  those  to  whom  they  are  related,  yet  a  per- 
son is  not  so  bound  by  these  influences,  but  what  he  may 
and  does  in  every  case  assert  his  individuality  and  makes  a 
character  that  is  properly  his  own.  This  is  a  matter  of 
consciousness  that  it  would  be  idle  to  argue  against.  And 
it  is  easy  to  see  the  reasonableness  of  this  law  of  our  na- 
ture; it  would  be  a  sorry  thing  if  parents  had  no  reason- 
able hope  to  be  able  to  influence  or  afl"ect  their  children, 
and  it  would  be  equally  fatal  to  the  individuality  of  man 
if  he  was  wholly  unable  to  resist  these  influences  and  cre- 
ate a  character  and  personality  of  his  own.  That  this 
balancing  could  not  be  so  adjusted  as  to  exclude  the  nat- 
ural effects  of  evil  is  evident,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  so  ad- 
justed as  to  give  man  the  best  possible  chance  in  a  world 
like  ours. 

The  Bible  not  only  holds  us  responsible  and  guilty 
if  weyield  to  evil  tendencies  and  influences,  but  teaches 
that  man — collectively  and  individually — is  responsible 
for  environment  and  heredity  such  as  it  is,  be  it  good  or 
bad.  It  has  been  of  our  own  making  from  the  begin- 
ning till  now.  We  have  made  the  world  what  it  is..  In 
some  measure  the  individual  is  involved  in  the  general 
doings  of  the  race,  and  the  net  result  of  it  up  to  the  time  of 
his  existence.  God  has,  and  is  doing  a  great  deal  to  make 
up  for  this  possible  disadvantage  to  the  individual.  But 
in  a  great  measure  the  individual  is  independent;  he  not 


Sociology  and  Crime.  165 

only  has  the  power  to  choose,  but  something  to  choose 
between.  We  are  a  bundle  of  tendencies  inherited  not 
only  from  two,  perhaps  widely  different  parents,  but 
from  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  these  tendencies  are  mixed 
in  their  character,  some  good, some  evil.  The  influences 
to  which  we  are  exposed  by  our  surroundings  are  vari- 
ous and  scarcely  ever  wholly  bad;  it  is  not  true  that  this 
environment  is  already  made  for  us,  except  perhaps  in 
early  childhood  when  we  are  least  responsible.  The  great- 
er part  of  life,  man  has  it  largely  in  his  power  to  create 
his  own  environment,  or  choose  between  what  exists. 
In  the  same  city  are  good  persons  and  bad,  institutions 
for  the  promotion  of  what  is  good  and  likewise  for  the 
furtherance  of  what  is  evil.  Quite  often  man  not  only 
creates  the  temptations  that  beset  him,  but  the  weakness 
that  yields  to  them.  He  goes  voluntarily  to  places  that 
exist  for  the  very  purpose  of  luring  astray,  and  under- 
mines his  strength  by  bad  habits,  idleness  and  luxury  till 
he  has  no  power  of  resistance.  In  this  is  involved  the 
law  of  reflex  action,  which  makes  our  bad  choices  doubly 
dangerous.  We  make  our  environment  and  our  environ- 
ment makes  us.  We  create  darkness  and  the  darkness 
makes  us  in  turn  more  dark. 

But  upon  the  whole,  the  world  is  evil,  so  the  Bible 
teaches.  Man  is  depraved — not  totally  in  the  strictest 
sense,  for  that  is  the  depravity  of  devils — but  totally  in 
that  he  is  helpless  without  divine  assistance  to  rise  to- 
ward God  and  goodness.  But  the  Bible  teaches  that  God 
is  in  the  world  as  a  force  wholly  on  the  side  of  righteous- 
ness, and  wholly  on  the  side  of  those  that  would  choose 
righteousness.  Man  is  not  unduly  handicapped  in  the 
strife.  The  prodigal  need  but  to  nourish  a  heart-desire 
to  return,  and  straightway  the  Father  is  looking  out  for 


1 66  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

him  and  coming  half  way  to  receive  him.  The  way  God 
has  revealed  himself  in  the  world  and  made  our  redemp- 
tion possible,  the  way  in  which  he  is  working  among  us 
as  an  active  force  to  save  us,  and  the  way  in  which  he  has 
distinctly  expressed  his  will  concerning  us.  This  is  all 
revealed  fully  and  perfectly  in  the  Bible,  and  as  much 
outside  of  it  as  the  depravity  of  man  has  made  possible 
and  practicable.  There  can  be  no  revelation  of  God  with- 
out mediums  through  which  his  spirit  may  work,  when 
these  fail  or  are  very  imperfect,  the  revelation  must  fail, 
or  be  incomplete. 

In  view  of  the  general  depravity  of  the  race,  any  at- 
tempt to  account  for  the  criminal  as  a  peculiar  physio- 
logical product,  or  on  any  ground  outside  that  of  com- 
mon humanity,  becomes  superfluous.  There  are  enough 
evil  tendencies  in  and  around  us  to  make  a  criminal  or 
libertine  of  every  son  of  Adam,  if  he  allows  these  tenden- 
cies to  have  their  own  way  with  him.  On  general  prin- 
ciples, all  the  difference  between  the  criminal  and  those 
that  are  not,  is  the  difference  in  the  degree  of  resistance. 
The  allowance  which  maybe  made  on  account  of  circum- 
stances which  increase  temptations  and  put  man  at  a  dis- 
advantage, cannot  be  put  down  as  a  definite  quantity. 
The  Scriptures  recognizes  it  as  a  quantity,  but  insignifi- 
cant in  comparison  with  the  willfulness  of  the  individual. 
Man,  generally  and  individually,  is  spoken  of  as  willfully 
wicked,  responsible  for  his  wickedness  and  deserving 
punishment.  The  scriptural  estimate  of  the  allowance 
that  can  be  made  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  blame  that 
must  be  attached  on  the  other,  will  probably  be  borne 
out  by  observation  and  experience.  The  rich  classes 
who  have  every  opportunity  to  surround  themselves  with 
what  is  beautiful,  ennobling  and  pure,  who  can  make 


Sociology  and  Crime.  167 

their  environment  all  that  they  choose,  are  not  morally 
better  than  the  poorer  classes;  more  often  they  are 
spoken  of  as  worse,  but  they  are  about  on  one  level. 
The  poorer  classes  produce  the  burglar,  the  wealthy 
classes  produce  the  schemer  and  manipulator,  the  bribe- 
giver and  corruptionist.  Immorality  is  at  least  as  com- 
mon among  the  rich  as  among  the  poor.  Generous  im- 
pulses and  natural  sympathies  are  found  equally  in  both 
classes.  Birth  may  imply  a  great  advantage  or  disad- 
vantage, and  early  training  is  a  still  greater  factor,  but  it 
is  not  uncommon  to  see  men  go  to  the  bad,  who  have 
had  every  advantage  of  birth  and  early  training.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  find  not  a  few  examples  of  men  rising  to 
honor  and  moral  greatness,  who  hav^  labored  under 
great  disadvantages  in  these  respects.  The  assertion  of 
the  will  at  critical  moments  and  all  through  life,  has 
made  it  possible  for  "the  last  to  become  first  and  the  first 
last";  to  take  it  for  granted  that  the  criminal  or  flagrantly 
wicked  has  become  so  because  he  was  worse  situated 
than  others,  is  a  begging  of  the  question  there  is  no 
proof  for  it  but  rather,  the  contrary.  We  do  not  know 
in  a  single  case  the  exact  amount  of  temptation  and  trial 
that  has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  an  individual.  To 
suppose  a  man  who  has  become  a  criminal  must  have 
had  more  than  his  share  of  temptation  is  wholly  gratu- 
itous. Many  of  those  who  remain  virtuous  and  honest 
may  have  been  exposed  to  far  severer  trials  than  those 
who  have  ignominously  yielded.  The  very  fact  that  one 
has  risen  to  greatness  of  character  and  moral  strength,  is 
proof  that  he  has  been  subjected  to  severe  trials  and  temp- 
tations and  exerted  his  individuality  in  overcoming  them, 
for  such  greatness  is  never  the  result  of  smooth  sailing 
and  favorable  circumstances.     So  far  from  man  being 


i68  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  inevitable  victim  of  circumstances,  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  make  the  worst  of  circumstances  stepping-stones 
to  the  highest  attainments  in  character  and  destiny. 

In  one  particular  our  sociologists  are  not  consistent, 
for  although  they  practically  acquit  the  individual  of  re- 
sponsibility, they  blame  society.  It  is  very  soothing  to 
refer  blame  and  responsibility  to  an  abstraction  that  can- 
not be  called  to  account,  for  society  in  this  sense  is  noth- 
ing more.  If  society  is  indeed  responsible  and  guilty, 
then  the  individual  is,  for  what  is  society  but  an  aggre- 
gation of  individuals.  If  an  individual  is  worse  than 
society  in  general,  then  he  is  responsible  both  for  the 
average  wickedness  of  society  and  for  his  own  "super- 
fluity of  naughtiness."  But  how  much  soever  the  criminal 
classes  may  be  to  blame,  it  is  not  questioned  that  society 
has  a  duty  towards  them.  It  is  a  duty  imposed  without 
our  choice.  In  some  way  society  has  to  deal  with  crim- 
inals. How  to  deal  with  them  is  one  of  the  problems  of 
the  age.  Our  dealing  with  them  of  recent  years  has  been 
strongly  influenced  by  the  recognized  science  of  sociol- 
ogy, and  it  has  proven  a  failure.  Crimes  and  criminals 
have  increased  enorm.ously,  out  of  proportion  to  the  in- 
crease of  population,  and  this  in  spite  of  increased  educa- 
tional facilities.  The  law  of  Moses  and  of  Christ,  which 
declares  the  criminals  willfully  wicked,  responsible  and 
deserving  of  punishment,  has  been  disregarded,  and  in 
place  thereof,  criminals  have  been  made  the  pets  of  so- 
ciety. But  the  law  of  Moses,  in  this  as  well  as  in  other 
respects,  has  a  way  of  avenging  itself  on  those  who  dis- 
regard it.  Where  arguments  are  of  no  avail,  experience 
comes  to  our  help,  and  we  are  beginning  to  discover, 
that  in  spite  of  heredity,  environment  and  all  the  sociol- 
ogical paraphernalia,  criminals  must  be  punished  or  we 


Sociology  and  Crime.  169 

will  be  punished.  We  must  rule  them  or  they  will 
rule  us. 

But,  "reform"  is  the  watchword;  the  criminal  must  be 
reformed.  This  is  very  true,  but  there  is  no  reformatory 
measure  like  that  of  justice.  Even  the  death  penalty  is 
reformatory.  A  murderer  is  far  more  likely  to  reform 
himself  in  good  earnest  when  brought'  face  to  face  with 
the  just  penalty  of  his  crime,  than  when  committed  to 
prison,  and  he  will  not  fare  worse  in  the  next  world  for 
having  paid  it.  If  committed  to  prison  his  first  and  only 
thought  will  be  how  to  get  out,  "hope  springs  immortal 
in  the  human  breast,"  and  it  has  good  reason  to  spring, 
for  very  few  committed  on  a  life  sentence,  but  what  are 
pardoned  out  sooner  or  later.  "Whosoever  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed,"  is  the 
law  of  God  and  nature,  and  when  society  disregards  il 
it  may  expect  to  receive  in  itself  the  punishment  with 
interest,  of  which  it  acquitted  the  murder.  As  a  pre- 
ventive or  warning,  one  execution  is  more  effective  than 
a  dozen  life  sentences.  But  punishment,  although  pre- 
ventive of  crime,  is  not  the  only  preventive;  for  this 
reason  those  are  at  fault  who  measure  the  record  of 
murders  by  this  circumstance  alone,  where  there  is  no 
disposition  to  commit  murder,  none  would  be  committed 
whether  the  penalty  is  this  or  that.  Education,  moral 
and  intellectual,  must  be  combined  with  strict  laws  and 
strict  enforcement.  But  even  as  an  educational  measure, 
justice  is  of  great  value.  A  government  expresses  its 
regard  or  disregard  for  crime  by  the  punishment  meted 
out,  and  the  fact,  either  way,  impresses  itself  on  the 
population,  and  creates  or  destroys  the  moral  sentiment. 
Sometimes  the  tide  of  corruption  and  moral  depravity 
has  been  turned  in  a  nation  or  age  by  the  strict  enforce- 


170  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

ment  of  law  and  justice,  in  the  hands  of  an  efficient  and 
honest  government.  History  furnishes  us  with  such 
examples. 

In  adopting  reformatory  measures  for  our  prisons, 
we  should  do  well  to  study  those  in  operation  in  the 
world  at  large.  The  world  may  be  looked  upon  as  a 
reformatory,  of  which  we  all  are  inmates.  The  Al- 
mighty has  an  interest  in  our  reform,  and  adopts  meas- 
ures to  that  end.  There  is  something  to  lure  us  to  a 
better  life,  rewards  for  obedience;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  strict  discipHne  and  enforcement  of  pen- 
alties. To  our  sentimentalists,  the  Almighty  would  not 
appear  as  a  philanthropist;  he  does  not  abolish  pain, 
but  depends  upon  it  largely  as  one  of  his  reformatory 
measures;  pain  of  hard  labor,  of  discipline,  of  penalties, 
for  disobedience.  Even  capital  punishment  is  not  abol- 
ished: "He  that  hardened  himself  is  suddenly  destroyed 
and  that  without  remedy."  In  so  far  as  society  is  called 
upon  to  co-operate  with  God  in  this  work  of  reform,  it 
"will  do  well  to  adopt  his  measures.  The  fundamental 
in  all  reform  is  justice.  Attempts  to  reform  a  prisoner 
by  setting  aside  justice  in  his  case,  is  like  building  a 
house  without  foundation.  No  criminal  can  be  reformed 
till  he  has  got  the  idea  of  justice  into  his  head  and  heart, 
and  adopted  it  as  the  fundamental  in  his  life  and  char- 
acter. 

Next  in  order  as  a  reformatory  measure  is  strict  dis- 
cipline. Till  one  has  learned  thoroughly  the  lesson  that 
his  inclinations,  likes  and  disHkes  are  not  to  be  the  mo- 
tive force  in  his  life,  he  cannot  possibly  stand  alone  and 
take  care  of  himself.  In  this  is  included  the  discipline 
of  honest  and  regular  work,  this  is  necessary  not  only  as 


Sociology  and  Crime.  i;i 

a  corrective,  but  as  a  means  of  living  honestly  outside  the 
prison. 

The  general  influence  of  mind  and  heart  may  be  re- 
formatory. But  this  is  an  element  that  can  hardly  be 
bargained  for  in  public  institutions,  it  is  too  subtile  to 
weigh  or  balance.  Call  it  love,  and  you  may  have  a  sen- 
timent void  of  moral  qualities,  or  you  may  hav^  the  sum 
total  of  all  moral  qualities.  Call  it  sympathy,  and  the 
same  wide  difference  may  exist.  Whether  love  and  sym- 
pathy is  effective  depend  altogether  on  what  it  is  in  man. 
A  sympathy  that  can  easily  feel  for  the  criminal  because  it 
has  no  feeling  about  his  crime,  will  only  create  or  strength- 
en self-sympathy  in  the  criminal,  and  harden  him  against 
reformation,  so  much  the  more  as  it  is  sure  to  adopt  false 
methods.  Godly  sympathy  is  a  standing  rebuke  against 
sin  and  selfishness,  while  recognizing  the  possibilities  of 
good  there  may  be  in  a  man,  and  appeals  to  it  to  culti- 
vate and  strengthen  it.  Unless  love  of  righteousness  and 
truth  predominate,  and  a  desire  to  make  the  transgressor 
righteous  and  true  is  uppermost,  unless,  in  short,  there  is 
divine  power  mixed  with  the  sympathy,  it  is  useless  as  a 
reformatory  measure. 

Modern  sociology  has  produced  a  crop  of  sentimen- 
talists, which  directly  or  indirectly,  tends  to  defeat  jus- 
tice and  increase  crime.  They  are  ever  on  the  lookout 
for  a  chance  to  prove  their  moral  imbecility.  In  harmo- 
ny with  their  science,  they  believe  there  is  only  one  evil, 
that  of  pain;  and  one  faculty  that  ought  to  be  exercised, 
that  of  pity.  If  a  murdered  person  is  out  of  the  way, 
and  his  suffering  past,  then  there  is  no  more  any  feeling 
for  him,  all  their  tender  sympathies  are  centered  on  the 
murderer,  who  is  in  danger  of  becoming  a  victim  of  the 
law.    The  fact  that  he  may  suffer  is  sufficient  cause  for 


172  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

all  that  is  in  them  to  rise  in  his  behalf.  The  question  of 
right  and  wrong,  guilt  or  innocence,  or  even  public  safety, 
is  not  a  consideration.  The  only  question  is  how  to  pre- 
vent a  certain  amount  of  pain.  This  sentiment,  combined 
with  the  selfish  interest  of  lawyers  in  trials  of  criminals 
has  made  the  work  of  justice  laborious,  difficult  and  very 
expensive.  No  wonder  that  in  the  poorer  sections  of  the 
South  and  West,  a  kind  of  home-made  justice  is  resorted 
to  when  that  furnished  by  the  lawyers  becomes  too  ex- 
pensive to  be  afforded  or  too  uncertain  to  be  depended 
upon.  It  is  easy  to  point  out  the  evil  results  of  such  ir- 
regularities, but  justice  defeated  or  denied  will  lead  to 
evil  results  in  some  form  or  other. 

Society  in  a  rude  and  uncultured  state,  is  apt  to  err 
on  the  side  of  harshness  and  undue  severity.  But  in 
highly  civilized  and  cultured  communities,  a  state  of  mind 
and  feeling  is  easy  developed  that  makes  it  much  harder 
to  do  the  stern  work  of  justice,  and  take  up  arms  against 
crime,  than  to  preserve  the  placid  and  unruffled  temper 
and  quiet  unconcern.  Selfishness  becomes  of  the  passive 
type,  that  is  always  characteristic  of  a  luxurious  and  ef- 
feminate people.  Patience,  forbearance,  mercy  and  for- 
giveness become  comparatively  easy,  they  require  only 
a  passive  state  of  mind  and  placid  temperament,  one  does 
not  need  to  rise  from  an  easy  chair  to  exercise  one  and 
all  of  them.  But  whatever  calls  for  strong  action,  either 
of  mind  or  body,  is  at  once  a  hard  trial  and  a  disagreea- 
ble task.  This  liberalism  and  indifference  to  moral  issues, 
misnamed  "  charitableness,"  is  only  the  acute  sensitive- 
ness and  shrinking  from  pain  or  exposure  natural  to  the 
hot-house  plants  of  an  effeminate  civilization.  It  has  no 
moral  quality.  When  a  population  reaches  this  state,  it 
is  easily  subjugated  by  foreign  foes,  and  is  at  the  mercy 


Sociology  and  Crime.  173 

of  the  criminal  classes  within  itself,  if  it  does  not  suddenly 
dissolve  into  chaos  by  the  weight  of  its  own  corruption. 
"  The  goodness  of  God  leaded,  or  tended,  to  repentance," 
or  was  meant  for  that  purpose,  it  is  written.  Patience, 
forbearance,  forgiveness  and  mercy,  in  order  to  bejusli- 
fiable  must  be  active,  looking,  hoping  and  working  for 
some  good  end.  They  are  only  so  many  excuses  for  in- 
dolence and  cowardice  if  no  moral  good  is  actually  looked 
and  hoped  for  in  their  exercise.  "  Righteousness  and 
judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne  "  they  are  the 
foundation  of  all  order,  and  mercy  itself  must  be  built 
upon  this  foundation  to  be  well  founded,  it  must  be  cal- 
culated to  promote  righteousness.  In  the  divine  plan, 
mercy  is  only  another  way  of  gaining  the  ends  of  justice, 
and  in  this  is  justified. 

The  spirit  of  liberalism,  of  moral  indolence  and  cow- 
ardice, begets  a  narrowness  of  view  which,  while  boast- 
ing of  breadth  and  liberality,  is  the  most  pitiable  of  all 
narrowness.  It  is  generally  centered  around  some  pet 
theory,  and  its  advocates  are  blind  to  everything  beyond 
and  above  it.  A  few  passages  of  Scripture  that  seeming- 
ly favor  their  liberalism  and  sentimentality  are  selected 
and  insisted  upon  as  representing  the  spirit  and  teaching 
of  Christ.  But  as  the  soul  of  nature  and  man  is  complex 
and  vast  so  the  spirit  of  Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the  New 
Testament,  is  even  more  so.  The  spirit  of  Christ  is  rep- 
resented in  his  terrible  denunciations  of  sin;  his  day  of 
judgment,  his  agony  in  the  garden,  his  death  on  the 
cross,  as  much  as  in  the  passages  of  the  sermon  on  the 
mount  that  speaks  of  love  and  forgiveness.  They  would 
confine  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  their  own  little  artificial 
flower  garden,  carefully  cultivated,  but  it  is  broad  as  the 
wide  landscape  and  vast  as  the  heavens,    It  is  not  mere^ 


174  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

ly  a  flower  garden  or  a  lovely  dale,  it  is  the  expanse  of 
the  ocean,  the  rocky  heights,  the  snowy  range  of  mount- 
ains, it  is  every  feeling  and  faculty  of  God  and  man 
brought  into  the  service  of  righteousness. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MODESTY. 

"First  pure  then  peaceful.''— James. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  appreciation  of  virtue  is 
greater  now  than  the  average,  since  our  first  parents 
emerged  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  clothed  with 
the  garments  made  for  them  by  the  Almighty  in 
place  of  the  fig-leaf  covering,  with  which  they  had  at- 
tempted to  hide  their  shame.  There  have  been  changes 
from  the  better  to  the  worse,  and  from  the  worse  to  the 
better,  in  every  country  and  clime.  In  one  particular, 
we  are  ahead  of  our  fore-fathers  some  centuries  ago; 
we  do  not  like  the  rank  and  silly  aspect  of  vice.  Even 
Shakespeare  tastes  so  strongly  of  the  unwholesomeness 
of  his  age  as  to  be  often  offensive,  and  ought  to  be 
purged  from  all  obscenity.  But  it  does  not  follow  that 
because  our  age  dislikes  the  rank  and  silly  show  of  in- 
decency, that  it  is  therefore  more  virtuous;  sometimes 
the  very  consciousness  of  the  prevalence  of  the  foul 
fire  damp  of  lust  makes  us  the  more  sensitive  to  any- 
thing that  might  cause  an  explosion.  In  earlier  ages 
there  was  less  sensitiveness  about  this  subject,  and  seem- 
ingly less  need  of.  The  very  Scriptures  bear  witness  to 
this.  Even  the  free  expression  of  the  innocent  in  the 
joy  of  love,  as  in  the  song,  of  Solomon,  would  not  now 
be  considered  good  taste.    But  it  would  be  r<ish  to  tak? 


176  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

credit  to  ourselves  on  this  account;  it  rather  shows  that 
the  imagination  is  now  so  besotted  as  to  be  apt  to  turn 
everything  to  an  evil  use.  Sometimes  the  fastidiousness 
of  our  age  goes  so  far  as  to  become  guilty  silence,  in 
which  there  is  neither  virtue  nor  strength,  but  only 
the  evidence  of  vitiated  taste  and  overwrought  sensi- 
tiveness. The  seventh  commandment  is  passed  over  in 
silence  as  though  we  had  a  dispensation  from  the  Al- 
mighty to  do  so.  We  are  afraid  even  of  applying  the 
cure:  because  in  doing  so  we  must  necessarily  reveal 
the  disease. 

The  Bible,  as  well  as  other  information, bears  witness 
to  the  fact,  that  from  the  earliest  age  man  has  regarded 
sexual  crimes  with  as  much  disfavor  as  we  do  to  day. 
Adultery  and  prostitution  were  generally  considered 
capital  crimes  among  the  ancients,  and  liable  to  the 
death  penalty.  They  could  appreciate  an  example  like 
that  of  Joseph  in  Potiphar's  house  as  much  as  we  of  to- 
day. Our  ancestors  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  were 
so  much  noted  for  domestic  virtue  that  their  descendants 
would  find  them  worthy  of  imitation.  Tacitus,  the 
Roman  historian,  gives  them  this  testimony:  "No  one 
there  laughs  at  vice,  nor  is  to  seduce  and  to  be  seduced 
called  the  fashion.  Happy  those  states  in  which  only 
virgins  marry,  and  where  the  vow  and  heart  of  the  bride 
go  together.  Infidelity  is  very  rare  among  them." 
Throughout  the  Scriptures,  an  adulterous  woman  is  made 
the  synonym  of  what  is  vilest  and  worst,  and  used 
persistently  to  illustrate  the  infidelity  of  God's  people 
towards  him,  as  though  no  worse  figure  was  obtainable. 
Christ  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount  does  not  pass  by  the 
seventh  commandment,  but  shows  how  it  must  be  ap- 
plied to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  as  well  as 


Modesty.  i77 

to  the  acts:  "Ye  have  heard  it  was  said  by  them  of  o^d 
time,  thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,  but  I  say  unto  you 
that  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her 
hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart.  And 
if  thy  right  eye  offend  thee  (by  the  lustful  glance)  pluck  it 
out  and  cast  it  from  thee.  And  if  thy  right  hand  offend 
thee  (by  the  guilty  touch)  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee: 
for  it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members 
should  perish  and  not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be 
cast  into  hell." 

In  the  decalogue  and  throughout  the  Scriptures, 
sexual  sins  are  placed  side  by  side  with  crimes  of  vio- 
lence, such  as  theft  and  murder;  some  would  ask  for  a 
wide  distinction  in  their  behalf,  as  mere  sins  of  indul- 
gence; but  all  sins  may  be  looked  upon  in  this  aspect, 
for  sin  is  never  committed  except  to  indulge  some  pas- 
sion or  desire.  Theft  and  murder  may  have  an  aspect 
of  brutality  that  strikes  us  more  forcibly,  but  the  conse- 
quences of  sexual  sins  are  even  worse  in  their  general 
effect.  It  is  displeasing,  therefore,  to  the  Creator,  not 
as  a  mere  weakness,  but  as  a  crime  of  far-reaching  con- 
sequences; what  can  be  more  grievous  in  the  sight  of 
God  than  to  foul  and  poison  the  fountain  of  life  for  fu- 
tufe  generations.  In  the  light  of  Christianity  and  general 
belief  in  the  soul's  immortality,  would  it  seem  strange  if 
the  Creator  should  look  upon  the  fact  of  bringing  a  being 
into  this  world  as  of  as  much  consequence  as  that  of  dis- 
patching one  out  of  it,  and  condemn  the  heedless  actions 
equally  in  both  cases;  or  that  he  should  fence  about  this 
act  of  propagation  with  the  strictest  laws,  and  ascribe  to 
their  violation  the  most  awful  penalties.  Whatever 
weakens  the  feeling  of  responsibility,  whatever  lowers 
it  to  an  act  of  levity,  a  matter  of  lust  and  concupiscence, 


178  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

%mere  incident  in  the  gratification  of  the  passions,  must 
be  in  the  highest  degree  displeasing  to  the  Creator.  Evi- 
dently God  meant  that  the  propagation  of  the  human 
species,  should  only  be  in  connection  with  the  highest 
reason  and  holiest  desires,  as  the  Scriptures  said:  "that 
he  might  seek  a  godly  seed."  Whatever  violates  this 
has  its  punishment  both  in  time  and  eternity;  both  in  the 
spirit  and  body  of  the  transgressor. 

It  is  well  said  by  St.  Paul  that  sexual  sins  differ 
from  others  in  that  they  destroy  both  body  and  soul. 
There  is  nothing  like  the  sin  of  immorality  to  bring 
about  that  physical  and  moral  degeneration  that  makes  a 
people  utterly  unfit  for  anything  noble,  and  wars  against 
their  very  existence.  For  sexual  crimes,  when  generally 
practiced,  quickly  destroy  the  reproductive  power,  chil- 
dren become  scarce,  and  those  that  are  born  are  feeble 
and  effeminate,  unfit  for  the  stern  duties  of  life.  Thus 
the  ancient  Roman  people  came  at  last  to  a  pass,  where 
luxury  and  vice  had  utterly  unnerved  them;  they  had 
to  depend  on  mercenaries  for  their  defense,  and  were 
easily  overpowered  by  the  northern  tribes,  who  combined 
domestic  virtue  with  warlike  qualities.  This  teaches  how 
a  people  may  deteriorate,  for  who  would  suppose  that 
the  Romans  of  later  times,  were  descendants  of  those  in 
whom  reigned  the  spirit  of  Virginia  and  Lucrece.  The 
ancient  Greek  civilization  represents  as  striking  an  exam- 
ple: their  cultured  and  intelligent  classes,  the  boast  of 
the  nation,  became  tainted  with  nameless  vices  that  made 
them  barren  and  childless,  and  the  state  became  depen- 
dant upon  the  poor  and  ignorant  for  a  posterity  to  make 
up  the  population: 

Of  the  causes  that  lead  to  immorality  and  vice,  we 
mark  the  following: 


Modesty.  179 

1.  Forced  development  that  leads  to  early  ma- 
turity. 

2.  Lack  of  moral  and  religious  training. 

3.  Decay  of  orthodoxy  and  corresponding  tenden- 
cy to  liberalism. 

4.  Amusements,  the  essence  of  which  is  sexual 
excitement. 

5.  Lack  of  parental  care  and  social  restraint. 

The  result  of  forced  development  is  very  similar  in 
plants  and  animals.  Compare  the  flower  that  grows  in 
hard  ground,  with  little  of  moisture  and  shade,  a  stunted 
growth,  quickly  accomplished,  early  developed  flower, 
small  and  sickly,  that  quickly  fades.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  ground  is  fertile,  with  plenty  of  moisture,  the  plant 
will  grow  much  longer,  the  stem  will-be  firm  and  strong, 
the  leaves  large  and  shady,  before  the  flower,  coy  and 
lovely,  appears  among  the  dark  green  leaves,  its  beauty 
and  glory  retained  till  late  in  the  season.  Girls  are  sup- 
posed to  be  the  flowers  of  humanity,  and  anyone  can 
observe  the  analogy  with  regard  to  growth  and  develop- 
ment. 

The  causes  of  forced  development  and  early  puberty 
may  be  enumerated  as  follows:  (i)  Inherent  low  vital- 
ity. (2)  Highly  condensed  food  that  does  not  distend  and 
develop  the  digestive  organs  and  c(5nsequently  not  the 
rest  of  the  body.  (3)  Idleness,  to  deprive  the  young  of 
useful  occupation  is  to  abandon  them  to  the  devil.  (4) 
Too  much  study,  too  much  mental  application,  and  not 
enough  out-of-doors  exercise.  (5)  Whatever  unduly 
excites  the  nervous  system,  novel-reading,  intermingling 
of  the  sexes,  sexual  excitement  under  the  guise  of  amuse- 
ments.   (6)  Tight  dresses,  the  corset — principal  inven- 


i8o  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

tion  of  the  devil  for  the  deterioration  of  the  human 
race. 

The  danger  that  Hes  in  a  too  early  development  of 
the  passions,  has  its  cause  in  the  fact,  that  their  strength 
is  developed  before  there  is  corresponding  intelligence, 
character  and  will-power  to  direct  and  control.  Girls  are 
in  more  danger  of  seduction  between  the  ages  of  thirteen 
and  sixteen  than  at  any  other.  Brothels  are  almost 
wholly  recruited  by  girls  of  this  age.  They  are  often 
subjected  to  all  the  impulses  of  a  violent  passion,  but  do 
not  have  the  sense  and  womanly  dignity  of  later  years  to 
restrain  and  warn.  Parents  who  allow  girls  of  this  age 
to  run  at  large  among  the  young  men,  know  but  little 
or  care  less.  During  the  skating  ring  craze,  the  seduc- 
tion of  such  girls  became  so  notorious,  that  the  legis- 
latures of  several  states  considered  measures  to  prevent 
their  presence  unattended  by  responsible  persons. 


The  importance  of  childhood  and  youth  as  the  age 
for  the  moulding  of  character  is  recognized  by  all.  The 
'exercise  of  the  mere  intellectual  is  detrimental  and  abu- 
sive at  any  age,  but  it  is  more  so  in  childhood  and  youth; 
then  is  the  very  age  when  heart  and  soul  respond  best  to 
moral  impressions,  and  to  the  high  and  noble  aspirations 
comprehended  in  religious  training.  Chords  of  love, 
hope,  faith  and  sympathy,  if  not  awakened  in  childhood 
or  youth  may  lie  dormant  forever,  and  finally  lose  all 
power  to  respond.  A  system  of  training  for  children 
and  youth  that  treats  them  as  me're  intellectual  ma- 
chines to  work  out  certain  results  in  arithmetic  and  gram- 
mar is  abusive  and  unnatural  in  the  extreme.  Nowadays 
it  is  more  than  ever  superfluous  as  well  as  injurious  that 
the  child's  mind  should  be  crammed  with  a  vast  amount. 


Modesty.  i8i 

of  information  in  school  years,  having  learned  to  read 
and  write,  he  has  the  key  to  all  knowledge,  for  all 
knowledge  is  now  contained  in  books,  and  if  the  child 
has  sufficient  instruction  in  school  to  arouse  his  curiosity, 
he  may  at  his  leisure  through  life  pursue  the  studies  that 
have  special  interest  for  him,  independent  of  schools  and 
teachers.  With  the  form.ing  of  character  and  laying  the 
foundation  of  morals,  it  is  different;  if  this  is  done  wrong 
or  neglected  in  childhood,  character  will  be  deformed 
and  the  moral  nature  dwarfed  through  life.  To  form 
character  and  lay  the  foundation  of  morals,  should  there- 
fore be  our  principal  effort  in  behalf  of  children  and 
youth. 

It  need  not  be  said  that  this  order  is  reversed  in  our 
public  schools.  But  it  is  supposed  that  the  church  and 
the  home  take  care  of  the  religious  and  moral  training  of 
the  child.  Suppose  they  do  not,  more  than  half  of  our 
population  belong  to  no  church  and  have  no  moral  or  re- 
ligious instruction  either  in  church  or  at  home.  The 
growing  youth  of  this  large  class  is  wholly  dependent 
for  their  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong,  and  of  moraf 
distinctions  in  general,  on  what  little  they  may  pick  up 
accidentally.  Yet  the  state  holds  them  responsible  for 
their  moral  conduct,  it  holds  them  responsible  for  duties 
that  it  does  not  teach  them.  It  demands  that  their  con- 
duct shall  be  in  harmony  with  certain  moral  laws  and 
standards,  but  does  not  teach  them  what  they  are.  Some 
responsibility  must  no  doubt  be  left  to  the  individual  and 
to  parents,  but  if  the  state  considers  it  her  duty  to  reform 
the  youth  after  he  has  become  vicious,  it  would  seem 
much  more  a  duty  to  form  him  so  he  shall  not  become 
vicious. 

Even  that  portion  of  our  population  which  belongs 


1 82  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

to  some  church,  has  no  adequate  moral  and  religious 
instruction  for  their  young.  The  Sunday  school  is  the 
only  institution  for  this  purpose  and  the  children  may  or 
may  not  attend.  If  they  do,  a  single  hour  in  a  whole 
week  is  quite  insufficient  to  meet  the  demand  for  moral 
and  religious  instruction,  and  in  very  few,  even  of  relig- 
ious families,  is  this  supplemented  by  any  effort  at  home. 
The  sum  of  it  is,  that  half  the  population  has  no  moral 
training,  and  the  other  half  is  insufficiently  provided. 
That  half  outside  the  church  is  losing  what  moral  and  re- 
ligious ideas  tradition  and  past  training  had  left  them, 
and  we  have  a  generation  of  youths  growing  up  nearly 
void  of  such  ideas.  We  perceive  it  in  an  air  of  heathen- 
ism, a  moral  blank,  that  stares  forth  menacingly  in  all 
their  action. 

Even  as  an  intellectual  stimulus  there  is  nothing  like 
moral  and  religious  training  rightly  comprehended.  Dry 
rules  of  arithmetic  and  grammar  are  but  as  dead  rubbish 
compared  with  the  living  seed  of  the  Word  of  God.  The 
jjprmer  is  soon  forgotten,  but  the  latter  will  remain  a  liv- 
ing power  in  the  soul  forever.  Religious  training  will 
not  only  teach  moral  distinctions  but  will  furnish  the 
needed  restraints  upon  the  passions  without  which  it  is  a 
miracle  if  disaster  does  not  result.  The  emotional  pre- 
dominates in  the  child,  as  it  does  indeed  in  the  masses  of 
grown  people,  religion  alone  can  enlarge,  discipline  and 
purify  the  emotions.  Even  if  some  children  are  capable 
of  no  deep  religious  impression,  they  will  not  fail  to  com- 
prehend the  moral  side  of  religion,  the  distinction  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  They  will  understand  the  differ- 
ence between  heaven  and  hell,  the  judgment  will  be  pres- 
ent with  them  in  making  their  choices,  they  will  be  made 


Modesty.  183 

acquainted  with  the  nature  and  consequences  of  sin  and 
crime. 

The  problem  of  religious  instruction  in  public  schools 
has  been  solved  in  other  countries  of  mixed  population  in 
one  way  or  another.  The  Bible,  non-sectarian  and  funda- 
mental, without  a  commentary  on  the  text,  is  a  solution 
to  which  there  can  be  no  rational  objection.  It  would 
furnish  a  basis,  and  denominations  might  build  upon  it 
according  to  their  peculiarities.  The  state  has  some  right 
in  the  way  of  having  children  brought  up  so  they  shall 
not  become  a  danger  and  damage  to  the  community, 
which  those  who  wish  to  be  or  become  citizens  are  bound 
to  respect,  objections  should  be  overruled  on  this  ground. 
The  principle  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  does  not  re- 
quire a  policy  that  will  please  everybody,  this  at  best 
would  be  impossible.  It  requires  a  policy  that  willleave 
no  ground  for  just  complaint.  Our  government,  informed 
by  public  opinion,  and  guided  by  its  own  wisdom  must 
decide  what  constitutes  a  just  complaint. 

Modern  liberalism  in  harmony  with  modern  sociol* 
ogy,  directly  and  indirectly,  tend  to  increase  crime,  both 
of  violence  and  against  virtue.  Whatever  dififensnce 
there  may  be  about  details  or  minor  matters,  the  sum 
total  of  the  tendency  is  to  belittle  sin  and  make  it  less 
alarming  for  the  sinner.  Their  mood  is  especially  soft 
towards  sexual  crimes.  To  speak  of  a  fallen  or  faithless 
woman  in  their  presence  as  wicked  would  be  an  offence, 
sheissimply  unfortunate.  Unfortunately  fortheir  opinion, 
the  Bible  does  not  agree  with  them,  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence between  man  and  woman;  it  makes  their  responsi- 
bility the  same  and  their  damnation  the  same.  Rather 
strange,  it  is  generally  those  who  most  persistently  clam- 


1 84  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

or  for  woman's  right  who  thus  insist  on  putting  her  on  a 
lower  level  in  regard  to  responsibility.  This  implies  an 
inferiority  which  Christianity  does  not  ascribe  to  her. 

It  is  common  to  complain  of  the  injustice  done  fallen 
women  in  excluding  them  from  society,  while  men  equal- 
ly guilty  are  admitted  as  though  nothing  was  the  matter. 
But  what  is  the  object  of  this?  Is  it  that  immoral  women 
and  men  should  be  accepted  as  though  their  way  of  life 
was  not  to  be  criticised?  or  is  it  meant  that  they  should 
equally  be  excluded?  The  reason  why  fallen  women  are 
excluded  is  not  because  society  hates  this  sin  in  a  woman 
more  than  in  a  man,  but  because  men  are  so  constituted 
that  they  do  not  want  to  marry  an  impure  woman.  They 
do  not  hate  her,  but  at  the  same  time  they  do  not  desire 
her.  There  is  a  place  for  immoral  men  in  society  be- 
cause women  are  perfectly  willing  to  marry  them.  Mar- 
riage is  the  focal  point  around  which  social  life  revolves,  it 
all  depends  on  how  this  is  regarded,  if  women  felt  towards 
men  of  this  sort  as  men  feel  towards  that  class  of  women, 
they  would  as  certainly  be  excluded.  It  is  probably  a 
iffistake  to  suppose  that  women  hate  their  erring  sisters 
on  account  of  the  sin  which  they  look  upon  with  so  little 
disfavor  in  men.  Their  supposed  hatred  may  be  set 
down  as  a  specie  of  jealousy. 

There  has  been  much  wrangling,  in  and  outside  the 
church,  about  amusements.  Liberals  have  demanded, 
what  is  the  harm  in  certain  kinds  of  amusements,  and 
Christians  have  scarcely  been  able  to  tell,  while  knowing 
all  the  time  that  there  was  harm.  The  reason  for  this  has 
been  the  want  of  a  general  test  easily  applied  to  all  amuse- 
ments of  this  class.  It  should  be  taken  for  granted  that 
whatever  amuses  by  passional  excitement  or  exhilara- 


Modesty.  185 

tion,  in  any  degree,  is  sin.  It  is  sin  to  play  with  the 
fires  of  passion  for  our  amusement.  The  appeals  to  the 
passions  that  excite  may  be  caused  by  lewd  exhibitions, 
as  in  a  theatre,  otherwise  by  personal  contact  between 
the  sexes  as  in  dancing.  As  the  contact  increases  in  fa- 
miliarity, so  the  excitement  increases,  and  in  like  degree 
the  amusement,  but  in  any  degree  this  kind  of  amuse- 
ment is  sin,  and  the  condemnation  of  it  is  implied  in  the 
Savior's  exposition  of  the  seventh  commandment  in  his 
sermon  on  the  mount.  In  modern  dancing,  with  inter- 
mingling of  the  sexes,  it  is  the  contact  between  the  sexes, 
the  familiarities  allowed, the  sexual  excitement  thatmakes 
it  an  attraction.  Everything  in  the  ballroom  is  calculated 
for  this  effect — the  voluptuous  music,  the  ecstatic  whirl, 
the  decollete  dress,  the  liberties  allowed.  In  world- 
ly-minded and  carnal  people,  the  love  of  this  kind  of 
amusement  is  so  strong  that  when  one  avenue  is  closed 
to  them  they  will  open  another.  Thus,  while  in  some 
churches  dancing  has  become  unpopular,  kissing  and 
other  kinds  of  games  have  been  introduced;  these  are 
worse  than  some  dances.  It  would  not  be  too  much  to 
demand  of  a  girl  that  she  should  have  more  sense  of 
modesty  and  delicacy  of  feeling  than  to  allow  herself  to 
be  caught,  handled,  fondled  and  kissed  by  everybody  as 
is  done  in  these  games.  The  fellow  who  broke  off  an 
engagement  with  a  girl  who  had  played  the  babe  to  be 
kissed  at  a  church  fair,  was  right;  the  woman  who  will 
prostitute  her  lips  or  even  her  cheeks  to  promiscuous 
kissing,  would  likely  prostitute  the  rest  of  her  body  if 
temptation  and  occasion  should  arise. 

"Take  it  thou— finding  pure,  from  all  those  years 
The  kiss  my  mother  left  there  when  she  died.'' 
Thus,  Elizabeth  Browning  in  the  song  of  her  love. 


1 86  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

A  girl  might  well  blush  to  look  her  lover  in  the  face  if 
she  were  unable  to  say  as  much. 

Boisterous  and  frivolous  mirth  cannot  be  indulged  in 
on  the  part  of  a  Christian  without  loss  of  character  and 
self-respect,  it  is  wholly  opposed  to  a  godly  life.  Many 
professed  Christians  who  are  ignorant  of  true  Christian 
joy,  and  whose  life  and  character  are  not  matters  of  rejoic- 
ing, assume  the  worldly  counterfeit  and  appear  with  an 
air  of  flippancy.  Unsanctified  joy  or  sorrow  is  alike  bad, 
but  unsanctified  joy  in  the  form  of  levity  on  the  part  of  a 
professed  Christian  is  more  disgusting,  forasmuch  as  sor- 
row is  more  consistent  with  his  case. 


All  the  States  have  enacted  laws  for  the  protection  of 
young  girls,  the  object  of  which  is  to  prevent  the  seducer 
from  taking  undue  advantage  of  youth  and  inexperience. 
The  laws,  whatever  their  effect  or  effectiveness,  embody 
the  sentiment  that  the  young  ought  and  should  have  pro- 
tection. But  if  tjiey  are  entitled  to  protection  from  the 
state  how  much  more  from  their  parents  and  guardians. 
We  complain,  and  with  reason,  that  some  of  the  laws  are 
shamefully  inadequate;  but  many  who  subscribe  to  this 
opinion  are  much  more  lax  in  the  care  of  their  own  girls  than 
the  laws  of  which  they  complain.  They  allow  them  to  be  ex- 
posed freely  to  the  seducer,  and  more  to  play  the  seducer. 
Very  young  girls  are  dressed  out  in  gaudy  attire,  and 
skillful  in  all  the  arts  of  flirtation,  they  are  allowed  to 
mingle  freely  with  the  young  men,  go  out  with  them 
alone  by  day  and  night.  They  seduce  and  are  seduced. 
A  law  that  would  put  the  whole  blame  upon  one  party  to 
the  crime  would  be  quite  unjust.  Young  men  are  tempt- 
able  and  fallable  as  well  as  girls,  and  ought  to  have  pro- 
tection against  the  art  of  seduction.    We  may  put  it 


Modesty.  187 

down  as  a  rule  that  those  who  are  foolish  enough  to  ex- 
pose themselves  to  temptation  are  weak  enough  to  fall, 
and  probably  do  in  most  cases-* 'Lead  us  not  into  temp- 
tation," why  not,  rather,  help  us  to  resist  temptation;  no 
doubt  if  the  temptation  can't  be  avoided  it  is  nobler  to 
have  resisted.  But  in  most  cases  victory  is  only  gained 
by  foresight  and  the  very  fact  of  one  snuffing  round  the 
snares  of  the  devil  shows  a  degree  of  affinity,  and  one 
has  already  been  in  a  measure  overcome  when  he  has 
yielded  to  the  temptation  of  exposing  himself  to  temp- 
tation needlessly.  Job  understood  this  three  thousand 
years  ago  when  he  said  "I  made  a  covenant  with  mine 
eyes,"  and  the  Savior  "Watch  and  pray  lest- ye  enter  in- 
to temptation." 

The  extreme  individualism  of  the  sexes,  both  in  men 
and  women,  has  made  the  legal  and  binding  union  of 
marriage  more  difficult  and  less  frequent.  The  last  cen- 
sus of  this  country  revealed  some  three  millions  of  bachel- 
ors over  thirty  years  of  age,  and,  of  course,  a  correspond- 
ing number  of  unmarried  women.  The  number  is  start- 
ling and  suggestive,  so  much  the  more  as  those  who  thus 
refuse  or  are  slow  to  contribute  anything  towards  the  fut- 
ure of  society  are  not  always,  nor  even  generally,  of  the 
poorer  and  worse  classes.  The  churches  have  taken  up 
the  cause,  but  often  with  more  zeal  than  knowledge. 
Some  of  them  are  little  more  than  social  clubs  with  the 
principal  aim  in  view  of  "getting  the  young  acquainted". 
Wonderful  ingenuity  is  exerted,  and  wonderful  entertain- 
ments invented  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  young  op- 
portunities for  flirtation,  for  this  is  considered  the  great 
promoter  of  union  and  harmony.  But  flirtation,  so  much 
depended  upon,  is  not  conducive  to  marriage,  it  tends  to 
destroy  the  confidence  which  is  essential  to  love  and  friend- 


1 88  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

ship.  The  churches  could  serve  the  cause  of  matchmaking 
in  no  better  way  than  to  remedy  the  defects  in  character, 
and  inspire  qualities,  both  in  boys  and  girls,  that  will  make 
them  mutually  attractive,  and  leave  ground  for  esteem 
and  admiration.  This  done,  the  natural  law  of  attraction  or 
gravitation  may  be  depended  on  to  bring  them  together, 
this  it  may  safely,  if  simplicity  is  allowed  to  rule  and  the 
intricacies  of  flirtation  avoided.  Courtship  among  us  is 
too  much  game  and  not  enough  common  sense;  if  the 
churches  should  establish  matrimonal  bureaus  in  their  con- 
nection, and  run  them  on  common  sense  principles,  it 
would  be  much  more  effective  and  honorable  than  flirta- 
tion and  coquetry,  which  involves  a  great  waste  of 
thought,  feeling  and  effort  that  might  be  put  to  better 
use.  The  practical  young  men  of  our  age  have  not  much 
mind  for  the  intrigues  and  intricacies  of  rivalries,  some 
of  them  are  too  sensitive  to  attempt  it  at  all;  they  desire 
above  all  things  a  woman  whose  character  inspires  confi- 
dence, and  who  has  practical  knowledge  of  her  duties. 
Every  honorable  man  is  an  Othello,  he  hates  promiscuity, 
the  girl  who  bestows  her  fond  looks  and  bewitcliing  smiles 
on  everybody,  instead  of  reserving  them  for  her  true 
lover,  is  not  desired.  Her  yea  should  be  yea  and  nay — 
nay  in  looks  and  manners  as  well  as  in  words. 

Flirtation,  moreover,  is  damaging  to  the  moral  charac- 
ter. It  is  generally  attended  with  familiarities,  the  natur- 
al consummation  of  which  is  the  capital  crime  against  vir- 
tue, even  as  envy  and  hate  has  its  natural  consummation 
in  the  capital  crime  against  life.  And  our  Savior  teaches 
that  the  different  stages  of  feeling  and  desire  that  lead  up 
to  the  consummation  in  both  cases,  partake  of  the  crime 
to  which  it  tends,  and  hell  fire  is  threatened  as  the  punish- 
ment in  both.    But  it  is  generally  excused  on  the  ground 


Modesty.  189 

that  the  young  must  get  acquainted  before,  in  order  to 
marry.  That  this  is  strictly  necessary  is  doubtful,  for 
more  than  half  the  nations  of  the  world  do  not  allow  it  in 
any  manner  on  account  of  the  risk  involved,  and  mar- 
riage is  said  to  be  fully  as  much  of  a  success  among  them 
as  among  us.  But  suppose  acquaintance  is  necessary, 
there  is  scarcely  a  more  doubtful  way  of  gaining  it  than 
by  flirtation  and  familiarities.  Contact  between  theyoung 
of  both  sexes  blinds  rather  than  informs.  Scarcely  a  girl 
jn  a  dozen  but  what  will  be  deceived  by  a  well-informed 
scamp,  into  believing  him  to  be  a  pattern  of  excellence,  if 
he  has  the  advantage  of  private  meetings  and  personal 
contact;  and  it  is  equally  true  that  a  man  may  be  ensnar- 
ed and  held  by  a  woman  if  she  has  like  advantages,  even 
against  his  better  judgment,  As  for  the  affinity  of  a 
true  love  it  generally  reveals  itself  at  sight,  the  interest 
developed  by  contact  and  familiarities  is  something  differ- 
ent. What  is  needed  for  safety  on  both  sides  is  a  know- 
ledge of  character,  it  is  best  known  by  habits  and  ways 
of  everyday  life,  and  the  knowledge  is  generally  best  gain- 
ed from  disinterested  persons. 

Flirtation  not  only  results  in  damage  to  character, 
but  it  is  the  cause,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  about  half 
the  murders  and  suicides  committed.  Flirtation  encour- 
ages rivalries,  and  rivalries  necessarily  end  in  disappoint- 
ment somewhere,  and  disappointment  of  this  kind  is  apt 
to  upset  weakminded  persons;  the  result  is  murder  or 
suicide.  This  might  largely  be  prevented  by  an  honest, 
straightforward  course.  Rivalries  in  love  affairs  are  a 
characteristic  of  the  lower  animals;  cats  and  dogs  fight 
about  a  mate,  and  among  the  animals,  the  female  has  no 
choice,  but  to  go  with  the  physically  stronger.  Among 
men  she  may  choose,  and  this  ought  to  settle  the  ques- 


I90  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

tion.  But  perhaps  she  is  in  no  hurry  to  assume  her  pre- 
rogative. The  offering  of  admiration,  from  competing 
rivals  upon  the  altar  of  her  vanity,  is  too  sweet  to  be  re- 
fused, and  she  is  rather  apt  to  encourage  than  to  put  an 
end  to  the  contest.  It  is  known,  and  we  are  freely  told 
for  our  benefit,  that  women  love  a  lover  that  has  cheek 
and  courage;  that  is,  one  who  willingly  and  freely  ex- 
poses himself  to  humiliation  and  the  wounding  of  his 
feelings,  perhaps  to  final  disappointment  and  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  has  made  an  ass  of  himself;  who  is  will- 
ing to  jostle  and  scramble  with  a  crowd  for  coveted  fa- 
vors. But  men  of  sense  and  noble  sentiment  are  apt  to 
be  rather  backward  in  this  game;  such  men  are  sure  to 
have  pride,  and  they  will  not  freely  expose  themselves  to 
humiliation  and  the  wounding  of  their  feelings.  Women 
are  apt  to  be  superficial  in  judging  of  the  sentiment  of 
such,  and  blunder  in  making  demonstration  the  test  or 
measure,  for  this  is  rather  a  matter  of  temperament  than 
of  strength  or  intensity.  They  congratulate  themselves 
if  the  fellow  loses  his  head  on  their  account,  but  those 
that  grow  blind  and  frantic  in  their  devotion,  are  men 
with  small  hearts  and  diminutive  brains,  but  with  an  ab- 
normally developed  animalism.  A  man  of  sense  is  quite 
apt  to  judge  of  his  intended  with  the  precision  of  one  who 
sees  everything  clearly;  when  judgment  is  well  devel- 
oped, feeling  will  not  blind  it.  Those  that  lose  their 
heads  are  such  as  have  not  much  head  to  lose. 

Men  and  women  who  contemplate  marriage,  are 
alike  desirous  that  the  love  that  inspires  their  union 
should  be  constant  and  enduring,  and  they  hope  to  have 
a  guarantee  to  this  effect  in  its  intensity.  But,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing  it  is  the  carnal  passion  that  is  appealed  to  in 
order  to  create  this  intensity.    Women  are  the  most  apt 


Modesty.  191 

to  err  in  this  respect.  In  their  passive  way  of  wooing, 
the  appeal  is  generally  to  man's  passion  rather  than  to 
his  love  for  the  noble,  the  true  and  worthy.  As  for  in- 
stance, the  decollete  dress,  what  is  it  but  a  frank  appeal 
to  the  animalism  of  the  other  sex.  But  perhaps  it  will 
be  answered  that  woman  must  appeal  to  man  as  he  is, 
and  if  the  animal  is  nearly  all  that  there  is  of  him,  what 
is  she  to  do?  Of  course,  if  this  be  the  case,  the  objec- 
tion disappears  and  we  leave  it.  But  if  a  woman  gains  a 
husband  by  the  tricks  of  the  harlot,  can  she  complain  if 
she  is  looked  upon  in  this  light  only,  and  has  little  love 
left  her  when  her  beauty  and  charms  have  faded.  The 
strength  of  the  animal  passion  is  no  guarantee  that  love 
will  last;  extravagant  promises  and  assurances  made  on 
this  ground,  before  marriage,  are  not  generally  kept. 
There  is  no  guaranty  except  in  character.  If  men  or 
women  consider  themselves  mere  creatures  of  feeling, 
and  predestinated  to  yield  to  any  impressions  made  upon 
them,  then  occasion  for  a  change  of  feeling  is  apt  to  oc- 
cur any  time,  before  or  after  marriage.  The  only  guar- 
anty is  in  the  character  and  principles  that  believe  in 
the  "shall"  and  "shall  not"  of  Scripture,  and  in  their  own 
ability  to  obey.  The  sense  of  honor  and  duty  that  for- 
bids the  roving  eye  and  the  fitful  imagination;  that  does 
not  dwell  upon  the  thought  of  evil,  but  guards  against 
the  first  approaches  of  a  guilty  passion,  that  know  and 
believe  themselves  capable  of  preventing  in  themselves 
any  caprice  of  feeling,  and  fulfill  the  divine  requirement 
of  constancy  in  love  on  the  part  of  wife  and  husband. 

Marriage  used  to  be  looked  upon  more  as  a  settle- 
ment than  a  conquest  or  a  bit  of  romance,  and  it  used  to 
be  looked  for  with  more  certainty  than  now-a-days.  A 
girl  would  prepare  herself  in  a  business-like  manner  for 


192  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

what  was  looked  upon  as  a  matter  of  course.  Now  it  is 
looked  upon  as  a  mere  chance,  girls  learn  trades  and  pre- 
pare to  be  self-supporting.  If  this  is  necessary  it  is 
nevertheless  unfortunate.  It  is  generally  deplored  most- 
ly on  account  of  interference  with  the  chances  of  young 
men  to  earn  a  living  and  establish  a  home,  and  probably 
it  does,  so  much  the  more  as  they  are  nothing  too  well 
prepared  for  the  competition.  But  the  damage  is  as 
great  in  creating  a  distaste  and  disability  on  the  part  of 
the  girls  for  the  duties  of  housekeeper  and  homemaker. 
A  committee  of  women  lately  investigating  the  tene- 
ment districts  of  New  York  City  reported  that  the  homes 
appeared  shabby  and  ill-kept,  the  cooking  was  half  waste, 
half  dyspepsia,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  the  drunkenness 
and  brutality  of  the  men  was  caused  by  it.  The  wives 
freely  admitted  that  they  knew  nothing  about  house- 
keeping; the  early  years  of  their  girlhood  had  been  di- 
vided between  books  and  frivoHties,  later  on  the  store 
or  the  factory  had  claimed  them.  It  is  a  fault  in  girls  to 
neglect  learning  the  duties  that  naturally  belong  to  them 
on  any  account.  All,  or  nearly  all,  hope  for  a  home  of 
their  own;  they  should  be  prepared  to  assume  the  du- 
ties that  belong  to  a  home.  Whatever  they  may  or  may 
not  learn,  they  should  never  fail  to  learn  housekeeping 
and  cooking,  and  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  all  the 
laws  of  economy  and  industry  pertaining  to  the  making 
of  a  home.  Millionaries  are  not  numerous  enough  for 
girls  in  general  to  depend  upon  for  husbands;  the  great 
mass  of  men  depend  upon  labor  for  a  support,  and  they 
cannot  support  a  home  unless  the  woman  is  capable  and 
efficient  as  a  helpmeet. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

woman's  suffrage. 

*'They  shall  be  one.''— (Genesis-Christ.) 

The  agitation  for  woman's  suffrage  is  one  o^the  sen- 
timental vagaries  of  the  age.  The  sentiment,  as  gener- 
ally expressed  by  men,  is  tipsy,  it  savors  of  the  carnal 
nature,  rather  than  of  a  moral  conviction.  Otherwise  it 
is  a  symptom  of  a  social  disease,  due  to  extreme  indivi- 
dualism, and  complicated  with  other  disorders  that  make 
women  failures  within  their  natural  sphere  of  activity  and 
influence,  for  which  reason  they  discontentedly  seek  for 
other  worlds  to  conquer. 

The  rights  and  wrongs  of  women  hardly  enter  into 
the  question,  no  doubt  they  have  had  their  share  of  both 
in  times  past,  and  so  have  men.  Which  of  the  sexes 
has  been  most  tyrannized  over,  it  might  be  hard  to  de- 
termine. No  doubt  men  have  tyrannized  over  women, 
and  so  likewise  have  women  over  men;  what  evil  pas- 
sions have  they  aroused?  What  wars  have  they  instigat- 
ed, how  men  have  toiled  and  quarreled,  fought,  bled  and 
died  for  women.  Laws  and  customs  of  the  past  have  not 
been  perfect,  but  upon  the  whole  they  have  had  their 
origin  in  the  fundamental  distinction  of  the  sexes;  the 
influence  of  one  sex  may  have  fairly  counterbalanced  the 
superior  strength  of  the  other,  and  about  evenly  divided 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  life.    In  no  instance  do  we  find 


194  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

the  women  of  the  past  complain  of  their  lot  as  a  whole, 
there  is  scarcely  any  need  of  the  commiseration  bestowed 
upon  them  on  this  ground.  Of  course,  they  have  suf- 
fered in  common  with  humanity,  but  have  also  fairly 
been  partakers  of  the  advantages  of  the  times  in  which 
they  lived.  The  virtuous  woman  has  been  the  song  and 
praise  of  all  ages,  and  the  wise  among  them  have  not 
failed  of  recognition.  We  find  examples  of  this  in  the 
history  of  all  nations;  taking  the  more  familiar  instances 
of  Bible  history,  we  find  women  in  the  earliest  ages  up 
to  the  standard  of  the  times,  well  informed  and  capable, 
having  due  honor  bestowed  upon  them,  and  happy  in 
their  homes.  Women  superior  in  wisdom  have  been 
recognized  even  as  leaders,  but  such  cases  are  excep- 
tional, simply  showing  that  there  was  no  prejudice 
against  them,  but  also  suggesting  that  man  is  the  rule  in 
this  capacity.  She  appears  to  most  advantage  in  her 
home,  and  the  Bible  gives  us  pictures  of  many  such;  her 
principal  work  is  within  the  family  circle,  and  the  honor 
most  coveted,  that  of  being  "a  happy  mother  of  chil- 
dren." 

We  have  before  us  in  Proverbs  the  picture  of  a  wo- 
man in  the  sphere  of  her  activity,  three  thousand  years 
ago.  She  is  not  a  modern-reading  machine,  which  de- 
vours all  knowledge,  and  yet  does  not  know  her  business, 
on  the  contrary,  she  understands  it  thoroughly.  At  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  the  picture,  we  find  "virtue" 
and  "the  fear  of  the  Lord";  these  are  fundamental  in 
her  character.  By  virtue  we  may  understand  general 
excellence,  but  chastity  and  womanly  honor  was  always 
first  thought  of  by  the  ancients  in  considering  the  ex- 
cellencies of  a  woman.  All  through  her  life  we  find  dili- 
gence and  industry;  these  ought  to  be  the  warp  and 


Woman's  Suffrage.  i95 

woof  in  every  life;  there  can  be  neither  virtue  nor  the 
fear  of  God  without  it.  Yet  the  picture  given  of  her 
diligence  and  industry  is  not  that  of  a  drudge,  noth- 
ing is  farther  from  it.  Her  work  is  not  done  com- 
plainingly,  languidly  or  slavishly;  it  is  the  free  and 
spontaneous  activity  of  a  healthy  nriind  and  body,  such  as 
cannot  help  being  active  and  rejoice  in  their  activity. 
"Strength  and  honor  is  her  clothing  and  she  rejoiced 
in  time  to  come."  She  may  have  had  less  book-learn- 
ing than  now-a-days,  but  she  had  more  wisdom,  and  she 
could  give  expression  to  it.  "She  opened  her  mouth 
with  wisdom,  and  on  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness." 
Kind  and  sympathetic,  yet  strong  and  active,  a  many- 
sided  and  fully  developed  human  being.  She  is  the 
mother  of  joyous  and  obedient  children,  who  do  her 
reverence,  "they  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed."  "Her 
husband  also,  and  he  praised  her,"  which  proves  that  the 
inclination  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  occasion  on  the  other, 
must  have  been  greater  than  now-a-days.  "She  looked 
well  to  her  household,"  but  her  husband  looked  after 
politics,  "He  sitteth  in  the  gates  of  the  elders."  The 
Bible  knows  where  to  draw  the  line  every  time,  there  is 
a  divine  hand  holding  the  balance  between  the  true  and 
the  false  throughout  the  scriptures.  For  our  part  we 
will  let  evolution  evolve,  and  stand  by  the  ideal  of  three 
thousand  years  ago,  but  where,  except  in  the  Bible, 
could  we  find  this. 

When  the  Creator  introduced  man  and  woman  into 
this  world  he  placed  them  in  their  home  in  the  garden 
of  Eden  and  said:  *'they  shall  be  one."  After  sin  had 
entered,  a  few  additional  directions  or  commands  became 
necessary;  their  life  must  now  be  one  of  labor,  of  this 
is  allotted  to  Adam  the  work  in  the  field,  to  the  woman 


196  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

is  given  the  care  of  children.  Moreover,  with  the  intro- 
duction of  sin  came  the  possibility  of  discord,  the  need 
of  rule  and  authority,  this  is  given  to  Adam.  Rule  or 
authority  implies  lack  of  harmony  and  sympathy,  where 
these  are  perfect  there  is  little  or  no  need  of  the  asser- 
tion of  this  authority,  and  it  is  conspicuously  absent  from 
the  picture  of  * 'the  excellent  woman,"  but  as  far  as  there 
is  need  of  it,  it  was  given  to  the  man  as  the  head  of  the 
family. 

When  God  said  of  man  and  woman  **they  shall  be 
one,"  it  is  implied  that  their  interests  are  one  and,  in  the 
main,  the  same  may  be  said  of  their  character.  The 
two  sexes  are  so  intertwined  in  their  relations  that  they 
must  necessarily  rise  or  fall  together.  Characteristics 
indeed,  differ,  and  each  sex  may  have  weaknesses  pecul- 
iarly its  own.  When  the  ancients  would  represent  vio- 
lence in  their  works  of  art,  they  did  so  in  the  shape  of 
a  man;  when  they  would  represent  frivolity  and  vanity 
they  did  it  in  the  shape  of  a  woman.  That  men  should 
be  more  given  to  crimes  of  violence,  and  consequently 
fill  our  prisons  to  a  greater  extent  than  women  is  natur- 
al; their  opportunities,  temptations  and  natural  capacity 
for  these  kinds  of  crimes  are  greater,  but  it  is  but  a  small 
part  of  the  sins  of  the  race  that  are  represented  in  this. 
Asa  matter  o-f  compliment  or  sentiment,  we  may  be  will- 
ing to  call  women  angels,  but  if  advantage  is  taken  of 
our  weakness  in  this  respect,  and  claims  made  of  superi- 
ority, and  for  radical  changes  based  upon  it,  then  we 
have  to  come  down  to  the  plain  truth,  and  tell  them, 
that  after  all  they  are  not  angels,  but  part  and  parcel 
of  the  common  humanity,  and  that  attempts  to  take  too 
much  upon  themselves  are  more  apt  to  end  in  making 
them  less  of  angels  than  they  are.    The  sexes  have  pe- 


Woman's  Suffrage.  197 

culiarities  on  which  depends  mutual  admiration  and  re- 
spect; they  can  only  retain  their  advantages  by  develop- 
ing their  strong  points;  a  masculine  woman  is  not  ad- 
mired any  more  than  a  feminine  man. 

Character  cannot  be  weighed  with  a  precision  that 
would  enable  us  in  all  cases  to  decide  where  the  pre- 
ponderance of  virtue  and  excellence  belong.  Perhaps 
the  best  we  could  do  would  be  to  take  the  world's  rec- 
ord of  great  deeds,  great  thoughts,  and  great  expres- 
sions of  sentiment,  and  ask  to  which  sex  they  are  main- 
ly due.  The  great  battles  for  liberty  and  human  rights 
have  been  fought  by  men;  women  have  stood  nobly 
by  them  in  the  strife,  but  not  as  leaders  or  command- 
ers. The  great  thoughts  of  the  world  have  mostly 
been  produced  by  men,  his  are  the  great  works  of  phil- 
osophy, science,  history,  theology,  and  even  of  fiction  and 
poetry.  Women's  place  in  literature  is  her  place  in 
life;  the  center  is  the  home  or  social  circle  and  the  ra- 
dius not  very  wide;  but  within  her  sphere  she  is  the 
equal  of  man;  it  is  a  matter  of  limitation  not  of  inferi- 
ority. When  we  come  to  the  world's  great  expression 
of  sentiment  there  is  more  cause  for  surprise,  for  this 
is  supposed  to  be  woman's  strong  point,  and  no  doubt 
she  has  done  excellently,  but  the  worldrenown  song- 
writers, dramatists,  composers  of  music  as  well  as  per- 
formers, are  all  men.  Woman  is  queen  of  the  home; 
but  man  has  fairly  earned  his  reputation  as  lord  of  crea- 
tion. 

Unless  woman  could  establish  her  claim  to  superior 
excellence  of  character  and  intelligence, — and  it  would 
seem  to  be  hard  in  view  of  the  facts  referred  to, — right 
of  suffrage  would  not  constitute  a  gain  to  society  or  the 
nation.     If  it  be  simply  allowed  she  is   the  equal  of 


198  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

man;  her  political  right  would  leave  the  balance  and  the 
net  result  the  same,  but  there  would  be  a  loss  to  make 
up  in  the  increase  of  expense,  inconvenience,  and  com- 
plexity of  elections  and  political  machinery.  It  is  com- 
mon to  point  to  some  great  and  noble  woman,  com.pare 
her  with  an  offscouring  of  a  man,  and  demand  if  it  is 
right  the  one  should  vote  and  the  other  not.  But  this 
is  rather  a  trick  than  an  argument,  for  it  is  understood 
that  if  women  vote  they  must  all  have  this  right,  not 
only  the  good  and  excellent,  but  the  ignorant  and  friv- 
olous; the  one  class  would  balance  the  other  as  in  the 
case  of  men,  and  the  result  be  the  same. 

Equally  shallow  is  the  claim  to  suffrage  on  account 
of  certain  women  not  included  in  families,  who,  per- 
haps, live  independent  and  pay  their  own  taxes.  Leg- 
islation on  this  subject  must  run  along  broad  lines,  it  can 
not  depart  from  these  on  account  of  an  old  maid  here 
or  an  old  bachlor  there.  The  laws  of  the  nation  must 
recognize  the  family  as  fundamental,  they  have  to  do 
with  general  principles,  not  with  anomalies. 

Some  who  are  interested  in  particular  reforms,  like 
that  of  temperance,  look  at  the  question  in  this  hght 
only  They  hope  to  secure  prohibition  laws  by  wo- 
men's votes.  But  we  have  learned  by  this  time  that 
more  is  needed  for  prohibition  than  mere  laws.  If  such 
laws  are  badly  enforced  where  a  majority  of  men  have 
voted  for  them,  what  would  they  avail  if  they  were  im- 
posed against  the  wish  of  a  majority?  But  aside  from 
this,  it  is  a  very  narrow  thing  to  look  at  a  question  of 
this  radical  character  in  the  light  of  a  single  issue  like 
that  of  temperance. 

Even  if  women  were  the  equal  or  superior  to  men  in 
character  and  intelligence,  they  would  not  therefore  be 


Woman's  Suffrage.  tgg 

able  to  make  laws.  Law  is  not  merely  the  expression  of 
intelligence  and  character,  it  is  the  expression  of  force, 
physical  force  that  compels  obedience.  Advice  or  asim- 
ple  statement  may  have  intellectual  and  moral  force  if  a 
law  has  nothing  more,  itis  only  so  much  advice  which  one 
may  take  or  not  as  he  pleases.  There  is  no  need  of  wo- 
men gathering  in  the  halls  of  legislature  to  give  us  advice, 
they  can  do  that  at  home,  or  avail  themselves  of  the  press 
or  platform.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  a  law  is  moral 
and  reasonable,  but  what  makes  it  a  law  is  the  force  that 
can  meet  opposition  and  put  it  down.  The  attitude  as- 
sumed by  the  law-making  power  is  the  attitude  of  force. 
A  man  alone  can  assume  it,  he  alone  can  give  expression 
to  brute,  physical  force,  do  it  gracefully  and  naturally  so 
as  to  impress  one  with  the  reality  of  it.  A  woman  assum- 
ing this  attitude  would  be  ridiculous,  she  does  this  when 
she  pretends  to  the  law-making  power.  There  is  the 
beauty  of  symmetry  in  the  soldier  with  fixed  bayonet 
charging  upon  an  enemy  and  even  in  the  burly  pugilist 
drawn  up  for  an  encounter.  But  a  woman  assuming  this 
attitude  would  be  disgusting.  We  are  therefore  opposed 
to  women  making  laws,  because  in  the  nature  of  things 
they  cannot,  they  do  not  possess  the  physical  force  with- 
out which  there  can  be  no  laws.  We  are  opposed  to  it 
because  it  is  against  the  divine  command,  which  said  of 
man  and  woman  "they  shall  be  one."  What  God  there- 
fore hath  joined  together,  let  not  the  ballot  box  put  a- 
sunder.  A  plural  or  divided  vote  is  incompatible  with 
the  family  relation  established  by  God  from  the  beginning 
and  emphasized  by  Christ.  It  would  have  no  meaning, 
nor  any  necessity.  Heads  of  families  constitute  a  repres- 
entative body,  even  as  the  legislature  itself.  The  father 
or  husband  represents  the  family  when  he  deposits  his 


200  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

vote,  it  is  the  combined  influence  of  all  the  members  that 
finds  expression  in  his  political  action.  A  husband  or 
father  has  as  much  at  heart,  the  interests  of  his  wife,  mo- 
ther, daughter  and  sister,  as  those  of  his  sons  when  he 
votes  or  otherwise  acts  in  a  political  capacity,  and  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  this  has  found  expression  in  his  political  action 
whenever  altered  times  and  circumstances  have  revealed 
the  need  of  new  laws,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  favor  and  protection  should  fail  to  be  secured  from 
those  so  vitally  interested  in  their  welfare.  Here  as  in 
other  matters,  sentiment  may  get  the  better  of  wisdom, 
men  occasionally  need  a  little  protection  as  well  as  wo- 
men. If  the  husbands  and  fathers  of  this  nation  should 
become  wholly  unfit  to  represent  the  family  at  the  polls, 
it  would  indicate  a  moral  degeneration  that  would  leave 
us  wholly  unfit  for  a  representative  goverment,  we  should 
in  that  case  have  need  of  neither  male  nor  female  suffrage 
for  we  would  be  fit  for  nothing  but  the  despotism  of  a 
czar. 

It  is  not  implied  in  our  argument  that  the  heavens 
would  immediately  fall  if  women  should  vote.  There 
would  be  an  immediate  increase  in  expense,  inconven- 
ience and  complexity  without  any  corresponding  good 
result.  Effects  contrary  to  the  best  interests  of  both  sex- 
es would  appear  further  on,  and  it  would  not  be  offset  by 
advantages  of  local  or  temporary  character  which  might 
possibly  be  gained.  Their  religious,  sympathetic  nature 
might  in  some  instances  work  beneficially,  but  politicians 
would  soon  discover  the  weak  side  of  this,  and  learn  how 
to  take  advantage  of  it.  Men  have  their  failings  and 
weaknesses,  but  their  sense  of  justice  and  their  judg- 
ment is  less  easy  upset  than  that  of  the  average  woman. 
Women  are  easier  influenced  through  their  feelings  and 


Woman's  Suffrage.  201 

passions,  and  in  the  administration  of  justice  and  political 
affairs  this  weakness  is  capable  of  infinite  mischief.  Even 
their  religious  instincts,  the  noblest  of  all  emotions,  are 
easily  subjected  to  the  service  of  designing  and  unscrup- 
ulous persons,  This  probably  could  not  be  where  religion 
is  built  wholly  upon  the  principles  of  Christ,  but  weak- 
ness on  the  one  hand  and  knavery  on  the  other,  makes 
it  easy.  The  abject  submission  of  the  women  to  the 
priests  in  the  Catholic  Church  is  proverbial,  much  more 
so  than  in  the  case  of  the  men.  A  priest  armed  with 
purgatory,  or  what  is  worse,  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell 
at  his  command,  is  more  than  a  match  for  the  average 
woman.  The  intimate  relation  of  the  unmarried  priest 
through  the  confessional  and  privileges  of  the  home  fur- 
nishes him  with  another  weapon  of  advantage,  it  will 
scarcely  fail  to  develop  a  sympathetic  quality  which  adds 
to  his  influence;  the  exact  nature  and  degree  of  which  it 
is  needless  to  argue,  as  the  only  point  in  view  is  the  fact 
that  it  effects  the  women  as  it  does  not  the  men,  and 
brings  their  voices  and  votes  under  his  control.  If  the 
women  of  Catholic  countries  had  sufferage  and  equal  politi- 
cal right  with  the  men,  the  priests  could  by  their  votes  over- 
throw every  liberal  government  in  Catholic  countries  and 
establish  the  rack  and  the  stake  as  in  the  middle  ages. 
Nothing  less  than  a  revolution  on  the  part  of  the  men 
could  prevent  it.  The  priests  do  not  clamor  for  suffrage 
in  behalf  of  women,  they  know  they  could  not  rule 'by 
their  votes  as  long  as  the  majority  of  the  men  are  against 
them.  Moreover,  they  know  that  the  multiplication  table 
counts  more  than  politics  and  they  have  no  mind  to  pros- 
titute their  women  to  inferior  uses. 

The  Bible  grants  to  woman  as  much  as  it  grants  to  man, 
she  may  aspire  to  the  highest  heaven  and  she  may  fall  as 


202  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

low.  Only  it  does  not  grant  her  the  power  of  brute 
force,  nor  the  right  to  assume  the  attitude  of  it.  She  is 
notto  "usurp  authority."  Her  power  must  be  that  of  heart, 
soul  and  life,  if  she  cannot  gain  her  ends  by  these,  there 
is  no  help  for  her.  God  has  willed  that  one  half  of  man- 
kind should  be  confined  to  these,  that  the  power  of  brute 
force  might  be  abated.  As  far  as  woman  at  anytime,  or 
in  any  case,  assumes  the  prerogative  of  man,  she  loses  in  a 
corresponding  degree  the  power  and  influence  naturally 
hers,  and  the  loss  to  her  and  the  world  at  large  is  greater 
than  the  gain.  Demands  for  woman's  suffrage  is  the  expres- 
sion of  abnormal  conditions  in  society,  the  cause  and  effect 
alike  is  a  contravention  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  revela- 
tion. We  have  in  mind  an  old  mother  who  never  clam- 
ored for  right  to  vote,  but  she  brought  up  five  boys  to 
vote  right  every  time.  What  did  she  care  about  voting 
while  her  boys  were  voting  her  sentiment  straight  along. 
Women  are  never  clamorous  for  the  rights  of  men  unless 
they  have  made  failure  of  their  own  rights.  A  waning 
race,  that  has  been  selling  its  birth-right  for  a  mess 
of  pottage,  would  save  itself  by  putting  votes  into 
the  hands  of  the  old  maids  and  childless  women;  it  is 
a  poor  make-shift,  a  dependence  upon  superficialities 
while  neglecting  what  is  fundamental.  The  foreigners, 
whose  children  swarm  in  our  streets,  may  well  afford  to 
let  American  women  *'talk  politics"  while  they  produce 
the  future  generations  which  will  rule  and  own  the  coun- 
try, suffrage  or  no  suffrage.  The  battle  of  the  future  will 
indeed  have  to  be  fought  by  women,  but  it  will  not  be 
done  at  the  polls,  but  in  the  homes.  It  will  be  the  politi- 
cal woman  against  the  domestic  woman,  and  the  latter 
will  gain  the  victory  as  easy  as  any  victory  was  ever 
gained.    The  future  belongs  to  her,  whether  she  be  Jew 


Woman's  Suffrage.  203 

or  Gentile,  Greek  or  barbarian.  Politics  and  suffrage, 
refinement  and  book-learning,  indignation  and  protests 
will  avail  nothing  whatever  against  the — multiplication 
table. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


IMPENDING  STRUGGLE  OF  RACES. 

"The  place  is  too  strait; — give  place  to  me  that  I  may  dwell."-(Esaiah.) 

There  are  questions  before  the  people  at  present  of 
finance,  tariff  and  the  distribution  of  wealth  which  create 
endless  discussion,  and  are  the  issues  in  every  election. 
These  questions  are  of  importance,  they  concern  the 
material  development  of  our  country,  but  above  them  we 
would  place  a  problem  in  which  is  involved  the  question: 
what  is  to  be  the  character  of  the  people,  and  of  the 
civilization,  which  in  the  future  is  to  possess  these  Unit- 
ed States.  If  it  is  merely  a  question  how  to  get  the 
country  filled  with  people,  and  have  its  resources  devel- 
oped, there  is  not  much  reason  for  concern;,  it  will  come 
soon  enough.  The  principal  European  nations  are 
doubling  their  population  every  fifty  or  sixty  years, 
either  at  home  or  overflowing  abroad.  The  Chinese 
and  other  Asiatic  people  are  capable  of  like  expansion. 
Transportation  is -very  cheap,  and  new  improvements 
are  in  view,  if  we  have  not  the  country  filled  to  its 
utmost  capacity  it  will  not  be  because  the  people  can- 
not be  forthcoming.  It  is  a  more  important  question 
how  or  by  whom  it  is  filled;  there  is  neither  glory  nor 
safety  in  numbers,  the  saddest  sight  on  earth  is  a  seeth- 
ing, struggling  mass  of  corrupt  humanity.  As  the  Al- 
mighty hid  this  country  for  thousands  of  years  till  the 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  205 

reformation  and  consequent  persecution  made  it  desira- 
ble that  an  asylum  should  be  provided  for  the  persecut- 
ed, so  even  now  it  were  better  that  the  material  develop- 
ment of  the  country  should  stop  right  here,  than  that  it 
should  serve  the  purpose  of  a  corrupt  and  worthless  civ- 
ilization. 

At  the  present  rate  of  increase,  tne  population  of 
the  earth  will  soon  be  crowding  upon  the  means  of  sus- 
tenance, as  indeed  they  are  already  in  all  the  elder  parts 
of  the  world.  What  is  left  of  the  new  will  soon  be  filled 
up,  and  then  will  begin  a  scuffle  for  room  between  the 
different  races  and  nationalities;  a  battle  for  bread,  not 
perhaps  so  much  with  weapons  in  hand,  as  a  contest  of 
endurance,  a  struggle  for  existence  in  the  true  scien- 
tific meaning. 

To  the  question:  when  will  this  struggle  be  upon  us 
in  good  earnest?  Some  perhaps  would  answer  that  it  will 
be  when  the  earth  has  reached  the  fullest  development  of 
material  resources  of  which  it  is  capable;  but  this  answer 
would  probably  be  faulty  for  two  reasons:  the  increase 
of  population  may  be  much  faster  than  the  development 
of  resources;  and  further,  the  economic  conditions  are 
not  so  in  any  country  as  to  make  possible  the  develop- 
ment that  will  support  the  greatest  possible  number.  In 
England  a  landowner  may  depopulate  half  a  county  and 
Iffrn  it  into  a  pleasure  park  for  his  own  personal  enjoy- 
ment. In  America  the  centralization  of  wealth  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  may  check  development  and  interfere 
with  a  proper  distribution  of  the  means  of  sustenance.  It 
is  calculated  that  we  have  room  for  several  times  our 
present  population,  but  the  areable  land  is  already  occu- 
pied; for  a  dozen  years  past  the  waves  of  western  immi- 
gration have  been  surging  against  the  barriers  erected 


« 


2o6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

by  the  arid  regions,  only  to  be  beaten  back  by  drought, 
considerable  districts  having  been  populated  and  depop- 
ulated in  turn.  Our  cities  are  generally  crowded  be- 
yond the  possibility  of  securing  employment  for  all. 

We  have  lately  had  it  explained  to  us  by  Prof.  Hux- 
ley, that  the  fittest  to  survive  in  a  struggle  for  existence 
under  natural  conditions  and  non-interference,  may  be 
ethically  the  worst.  This  principle  would  undoubtedly 
hold  good  in  a  struggle  between  races.  If  it  be 
merely  a  question  of  surviv  al  in  a  struggle  for  existence, 
those  that  are  willing  to  adopt  themselves  to  the  hardest 
conditions  would  probably  survive.  It  is  apt  to  be  such 
a  struggle  when  the  population  becomes  very  crowded. 
Or  stated  in  other  words:  if  it  be  a  mere  question  of  liv- 
ing and  propagating,  multiplying  and  filling  the  earth, 
brute  endurance  will  count  more  than  intellectual  and 
moral  qualities.  The  only  way  in  which  nations  possess- 
ing these  qualities  could  preserve  themselves  would  be 
by  using  their  advantages  to  prevent  or  avert  this  kind 
of  a  struggle.  This,  in  the  United  States,  can  alone 
be  done  by  preventing  those  from  coming  here  who  are 
willing  to  engage  in  a  struggle  for  a  bare  existence  on 
the  low  ground  of  brute  endurance.  Most  of  those 
that  are  now  coming  here  are  of  a  class  that  are  thus 
willing. 

Among  highly  civilized  nations,  rational  conside!^ 
tions  will  check  the  growth  of  population;  if  times  are 
hard  and  circumstances  unfavorable,  there  is  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  births  and  marriages.  Among  rude 
and  barbarous  people,  internecine  feuds  and  wars  will 
generally  suffice  to  prevent  overcrowding.  It  is  among 
people  of  stable  government  and  peaceable  habits,  but 
not  with  sufficient  intellectual  development  to  overrule 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  207 

the  emotional  and  passional  in  their  nature,  that  over- 
crowding is  most  likely  to  occur.  Most  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth  at  present  are  precisely  in  this  state  of  de- 
velopment. In  a  struggle  for  existence  on  equal  ground, 
these  must  necessarily  live  down  and  crowd  out  those 
of  a  higher  civilization,  who  take  counsel  with  reason, 
and  shrink  from  the  struggle.  While  these  consider 
the  chances  for  themselves  and  their  possible  offspring 
to  get  a  living,  the  other  class  simply  multiplies  without 
asking  what  becomes  of  their  offspring.  This,  however, 
does  not  die,  inured  to  hardship  from  infancy,  they  at 
once  act  upon  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  and  en- 
gage in  a  fierce  struggle  for  existence. 

The  supremacy  of  the  most  civilized  nations,  like  that 
of  the  English,  in  most  parts  of  the  world  in  some  res- 
pects tends  to  aggravate  the  struggle.  Interference  of 
civilization  prevents  wars  and  broils  which  among  rude 
people  keep  down  the  population.  They  also  do  their  ut-» 
most  to  prevent  famine,  pestilence,  infanticide  and  other 
means  by  which  nature  cuts  down  mercilessly  those  that 
breed  recklessly.  If  those  thus  spared  have  the  means 
to  emigrate,  they  will  do  so,  and  likely  engage  their 
would-be  benefactors  in  a  struggle  for  existence,  in  which 
they  easily  come  out  ahead.  Civilization  also  will  furnish 
them  with  the  means  of  emigration.  Chinese  were  never 
k^wn  outside  their  own  country  till  modern  steamships 
touched  their  shores,  now  they  are  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and, whatever  may  be  their  capacity  forfighting,  in 
a  struggle  of  brute  endurance  they  easily  get  ahead  of  all 
competitors.  The  relation  of  England  to  Ireland  furn- 
ishes us  with  another  illustration.  As  long  as  Ireland 
was  left  practically  to  govern  itself,  internecine  feuds  and 
wars  kept  down  the  population.  When  England  put  a  stop 


2o8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


to  this,  it  increased  enormously  and  overflowed  into 
England  and  the  United  States.  There  are  now  two  mil- 
lions of  Irishmen  in  England,  contented  with  a  bare  ex- 
istence and  willing  to  struggle  for  it;  they  are  crowding 
Englishmen  out,  and  takmg  their  places.  Ireland  may 
in  this  way  conquer  England  more  efl"ectually  than  Eng- 
land'ever  conquered  Ireland.  In  France  the  same  is 
taking  place,  but  here  it  is  Italians  that  are  proving  them- 
selves superior  in  brute  endurance.  Not  long  ago  there 
was  a  battle  between  French  and  Italian  laborers  in  the 
south  of  France,  on  the  part  of  Frenchmen  it  was  the 
blind  striking  at  what  they  felt  to  be  a  foe,  but  which  in- 
ternational laws  do  not  allow  to  be  so  regarded.  The 
emigration  of  foreigners  into  France  is  of  recent  origin 
but  already  one  and  a  quarter  of  a  million,  mostly 
Italians,  occupy  the  places  of  Frenchmen.  They 
are  content  with  lower  wages,  a  bare  existence,  and  a 
harder  struggle  for  it;  they  naturally  take  the  place  of 
those  that  will  not  struggle  on  these  conditions.  It  is 
likewise  maintained  that  in  Austria,  the  German  element 
is  losing  in  strength  and  influence  while  the  Slav  the 
Czech  and  the  Jew  are  gaining.  In  every  case  it  is  the 
highly  civilized  that  is  yielding  before  the  less  civilized. 

In  former  ages  when  population  got  too  crowded,  they 
had  a  simple  way  of  solving  the  problem.  The  superflu- 
ous portion  was  armed  and  sent  to  seek  homes  in  otl^^ 
lands,  which  they  did  by  driving  out  or  exterminating 
the  people  found  in  possession,  unless  they  themselves 
were  exterminated  in  the  attempt;  in  either  case  the 
problem  was  solved  for  the  time  being.  Now  it  is  done 
differently; -the  superfluous  portion  of  a  population  arm 
themselves  with  determination  to  work  for  lower  wages, 
and  endure  more  for  the  sake  of  existence  than  the  people 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  209 

of  the  country  they  intend  to  invade.  They  engage  this 
people  in  a  struggle  on  the  ground  of  brute  endurance, 
and  if  their  endurance  is  greater,  if  they  are  willing  to 
stand  greater  hardships,  they  win  in  the  struggle. 

The  time  must  inevitably  come  when  civilized  nations 
will  perceive  that  those  who  thus  come  to  supersede  their 
home  population,  to  fight  them  down  and  crowd  them 
out  in  a  struggle  of  brute  endurance,  are  no  less  enemies 
than  if  they  came  with  weapons  in  hand  to  do  the  same 
by  force.  Unless  highly  civilized  nations  perceive  this, 
prepare  to  bar  out  the  invader,  and  prevent  the  barbaric 
struggle,  they  must  in  turn  go  down,  or  at  least  their 
civilizati'bn  and  native  population  must  disappear. 

We  are  never  tired  of  wondering  at  the  growth  of  our 
population,  but  the  real  cause  for  wonder  in  this  respect 
lies  on  the  other  side  the  Atlantic.  The  principal  Euro- 
pean nations,  excepting  France,  have  increased  nearly  as 
fast  as  the  United  States  the  last  twenty  years,  and  this 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  that  period  of  time,  ten  millions 
of  their  population  have  been  shifted  from  their  shores  to 
ours,  and  some  have  emigrated  elsewhere.  Facts  observ- 
ablee  as  well  as  figures  would  indicate  that  the  native 
population  of  the  northern  states  is  about  stationary  and 
that  the  growth  of  population  in  these  states  is  almost 
wholly  due  to  immigrants  and  their  children.  There 
\^re  according  to  last  census  twenty-one  millions  of  for- 
eign parentage  in  the  United  States.  Immigration  and 
natural  increase  must  have  added  three  millions  since 
then,  and  there  are  besides  three  or  four  millions  Irish 
and  German  Catholics,  of  parents  born  in  this  country, 
which  have  not  been  assimilated,  but  must  be  classed 
with  foreigners.  These  will  then  at  present  number 
twenty-seven  millions,    Of  these,  less  than  two  millions 


2IO  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 


are  in  fifteen  southern  states,  containing  a  population, 
blacks  and  whites,  of  twenty-three  millions.  The  rest  of 
the  foreigners,  twenty-five  millions  are  in  the  northern 
states,  which  in  a  population  of  forty  two  millions  leave 
a  minority  of  seventeen  millions.  These,  the  native 
Americans,  being  about  stationary  while  the  foreigners 
are  rapidly  increasing,  it  remains  a  question  how  long 
they  can  impress  the  increasing  foreign  population  with 
their  race-characteristics  and  civilization.  That  they  are  al- 
ready failing  to  do  so  in  many  cities  and  localities  is  an  open 
secret.  Unless  immigrants  are  of  a  class  willing  and  cap- 
able of  being  "impressed"  it  is  plain  that  the  native  ele- 
ment will  at  a  no  distant  date  sink  to  be  a  mere  tribe  in 
a  heterogeneous  population  consisting  of  many  races, 
nationalities,  languages  and  religions. 

But  it  is  hoped  confidently  that  this  foreign  popula- 
tion will  be  assimilated  and  transformed  into  Americans 
in  harmony  with  our  civilization  and  institutions.  It  is 
hoped  for  on  the  ground  that  it  has  been  done  to  a  large  ex- 
tent in  the^ast.  It  has  been  done  because  immigrants  were 
nearly  all  of  nationalities  kindred  to  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
but  we  are  facing  a  new  problem  now;  the  greater  part 
of  immigrants  are  now  of  races  not  allied  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  to  the  question  whether  they  are  likely  to  be 
assimilated;  the  experience  of  the  United  States  gives  no 
answer  of  a  decisive  character.  But  we  can  get  this  kind 
of  an  answer  from  other  countries  where  the  race  prob*- 
lem  has  been  part  of  their  history  for  centuries,  and  the 
answer  is  uniformily  that  of  the  negative.  Races  have  a 
tendency  to  remain  faithful  to  their  type  and  prevent 
amalgamation.  The  Slav  and  the  German  have  lived 
side  by  side  for  centuries  in  Bohemia,  Transylvania  and 
Pther  Austrian  States,  but  they  are  as  distinct  to-day  as 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  211 

when  they  first  settled.  The  Celt  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
have  occupied  the  small  island  of  Ireland  for  hundreds  of 
years,  but  they  are  as  far  from  being  one  people  as  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago.  The  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Latin 
have  occupied  certain  provinces  of  Canada  ever  since  its 
discovery,  but  they  are  as  distinct  and  far  apart  as 
though  the  channel  was  between  them,  indeed  mCich  far- 
ther; and  this  may  be  said  likewise  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
and  the  Celt  in  Ireland,  and  the  German  and  the  Slav  in 
Bohemia.  Contiguity  has  only  served  to  intensify  their 
peculiarities,  and  make  them  more  hostile  towards  each 
other.  The  relation  between  them  is  but  an  armed  truce, 
prevented  from  breaking  out  in  open  hostilities  by  im- 
perial power.  The  examples  v/e  have  named  might  easily 
be  multiplied,  but  they  are  near  on  hand  and  serve  the 
purpose  of  illustration.  That  the  United  States  would 
have  better  luck  with  its  race  problem,  there  is  not  the 
least  reason  to  anticipate.  Neither  is  there  any  indica- 
tion of  it.  Irish  and  German  Catholics  that  came  to  this 
country  two  or  three  generations  ago  are  still  known  as 
Irish  or  German  Americans;  this  modification  of  their 
Americanism  would  not  exist  if  they  had  indeed  been 
assimilated,  The  alien  population  is  creating  distinct 
quarters  in  our  cities,  and  exclusive  settlements  in  the 
country,  and  the  influence  that  will  preserve  them  so  is 
a%  strong  here  as  anywhere  in  the  world.  And  then, 
where  in  this  country  is  the  imperial  or  predominating 
power  to  overcome  and  rule  these  contending  races, 
nationalities  and  rehgions?  Not  in  the  native  element 
for  that  is  stationary,  while  the  aliens  are  increasing  en- 
ormously, both  by  immigration  and  reproduction. 

Americans  have  it  still  in  their  power  to  regulate 
immigration  in  conformity  to  their  type  and  in  harmony 


212  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

with  their  civilization.  About  one  half  of  the  foreigners 
now  in  the  countryare  in  sympathy  with  our  institutions, 
and  could  be  depended  on  to  second  such  an  effort;  this 
would  leave  a  sufficient  balance  of  power  in  their  hands 
to  effect  a  reform.  It  should  be  asked  critically  and  pos- 
itively of  every  would-be  immigrant  to  this  country:  I. 
"Has  he  the  character  that  would  make  him  a  desirable  cit- 
izen, and  the  race  affinity  that  would  make  assimilation 
possible?  2.  Is  he  free  from  prejudices,  religious  and 
otherwise,  that  would  leave  him  subject  to  foreign  in- 
fluence while  in  this  country? 

The  test  applied  would  in  the  first  place  bar  out  As- 
iatics. There  should  be  no  distinction  made,  Chinese  are 
no  more  impracticable  than  other  Asiatics.  Non-inter- 
ference with  Chinese  immigration  is  generally  asked  for 
in  behalf  of  missionary  efforts.  But  with  unrestricted 
immigration,  China  could  heathenize  America  more  in 
one  year  than  we  could  Christianize  China  in  twenty,  and 
the  net  result  would  be  a  great  loss  to  Christianity. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  China  had  as  dense 
a  population  two  or  three  thousand  years  ago  as  it  has 
now,  when  it  numbersabout  400,000,000.  A  healthy, 
industrious,  domestic  people  like  the  Chinese,  will  dou- 
ble their  population  every  fifty  years.  Suppose  this 
compound  doubling  of  their  number  had  been  going  on 
for  two  or  three  thousand  years,  there  would  have  be^ 
enough  Chinamen  alive  in  the  world  to-day  to  cover  the 
United  States  many  times  over.  The  rest  of  the  800,- 
000,000  of  Asiatics  are  capable  of  like  expansion;  with 
unrestricted  immigration,  and  facilities  for  coming,  they 
could  fill  this  country  with  a  thousand  millions  in  a  hun- 
dred years  without  suffering  any  decrease  at  home.  Some 
European  nationalities  that  can  just  as  little  be  Ameri- 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  213 

canized  are  overflowing  by  the  millions  every  year  and 
want  room.  Must  the  United  States  furnish  an  asylum 
for  all,  as  certain  philanthropists  insist;  even  by  taking 
thought  they  cannot  add  one  cubit  to  the  stature  of  this 
planet,  nor  extend  the  area  of  the  United  States  indefin- 
itly.  The  way  Chinese  and  other  Asiatics  have  kept 
their  population  stationary  for  two  or  three  thousand 
years,  when  they  might  have  produced  enough  to  peo- 
ple a  score  of  planets,  is  by  the  stern  law  of  necessity. 
They  will  breed  like  rabbits,  and  in  good  years  crowd 
the  country  to  its  utm.ost  capacity;  then,  when  a  bad  year 
comes  along,  millions  are  swept  away  by  famine;  this  leaves 
breathing  room  for  awhile,  when  the  same  thing  is  re- 
peated. Pestilence,  war  and  infanticide  also  help  to  thin 
out  the  swarming  multitude.  No  law  or  love  of  hu- 
manity can  prevent  this  law  of  necessity,  in  some  way  or 
other  it  will  operate  and  rule  where  reason  does  not. 
Highly  civilized  nations  may  abate  its  cruelties,  but  it 
should  not  be  at  the  expense  of  their  own  extinction; 
this  would  not  be  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  and  would 
not  in  the  end  solve  the  problem. 

The  test,  if  applied,  would  bar  out  immigrants  sub- 
ject to  the  influence  and  control  of  the  Jesuits.  This, 
as  a  distinction,  would  be  less  objectionable  than  any 
which  should  discriminate  against  nationalities;  a  distinc- 
tion of  this  latter  sort  would  cause  great  animosity,  but 
a  distinction  against  Jesuits  and  those  of  their  persua- 
sion, or  likely  to  become  subject  to  their  control,  would 
arouse  neither  wonder  nor  ill-will  among  European  na- 
tions, whether  Protestant  or  Catholic.  They  would  un- 
derstand it  at  once  and  appreciate  the  situation,  for  even 
the  most  Catholic  countries  have  had  experience  with 
Jesuitism,  and  know  that  it  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  a 


214  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

popular  form  of  government,  or  with  any  kind  of  gov- 
ernment except  by  Jesuits. 

Religion  is  the  principal  cause  of  separation  be- 
tween the  different  races.  The  difference  between  the 
Protestants  and  Catholics  is  fundamental.  Protestant 
churches  of  various  kinds  may  have  the  foibles  and  small 
prejudices,  but  upon  the  whole,  their  aim  is  purely  re- 
ligious, moral  and  social.  The  Catholic  church  is  entire- 
ly distinct.  Hers  is  pre-eminently  a  kingdom  of  this 
world;  her  aim  is  power  and  control,  and  everything  in 
her  policy  is  subservient  to  this.  The  religious  senti- 
ment in  man  is  cultivated  mainly  with  a  view  of  making 
it  serve  as  a  basis  for  her  power.  Education  and  social 
development  is  of  consequence  only  as  they  fit  into  her 
policy.  They  are  neglected  in  purely  Catholic  coun- 
tries, but  adopted  as  defensive  measures  among  Protes- 
tants. The  church  has  not  abrogated  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  her  ancient  claim.  Her  plotting  for  power  and  con- 
trol never  ceases.  It  is  going  on  in  every  country,  but 
is  now  more  especially  centered  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  invidious,  restless,  unscrupulous  and  persistent.  It 
has  sooner  or  later  brought  her  into  conflict  with  every 
government  on  earth,  whether  in  Protestant  or  Catholic 
countries.  There  can  be  no  peace  between  the  Cath- 
olic church  and  any  government  that  does  not  acknowl- 
edge her  claim  of  supremacy.  The  conflict  may  be 
smoothed  over  with  diplomacy  and  soft  phrases,  but  it 
is  there  all  the  same,  and  is  an  understood  matter  both 
at  Rome  and  various  capitals. 

Catholics  maybe  good  and  loyal,  but  can  only  be 
so  by  repudiating  and  resisting  the  claims  and  authority 
of  the  church.  In  Catholic  countries,  the  sentiment  of 
liberty  has  been  the  ruling  one  for  the  last  hundred 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  215 

years,  and  the  majority  are  on  the  side  of  a  liberal  gov- 
ernment. The  tremendous  experience  of  the  past  has 
so  far  sufficed  to  convince  them,  that  the  rule  of  the 
priests  is  not  consistent  with  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
or  the  security  of  life  and  property.  But  it  is  a  precari- 
ous matter,  even  in  Catholic  countries,  to  depend  upon 
a  loyalty  that  requires  Catholics  to  repudiate  and  resist 
the  claims  and  pretentions  of  the  church,  considering 
the  indestructibility  of  the  religious  sentiment,  how  easy 
it  may  become  dominant,  and,  perverted  and  misdirected, 
furnish  an  occasion  for  the  priests.  In  Protestant  coun- 
tries, it  is  practically  idle  to  do  so.  Catholics  have  not 
had  the  experience  of  Catholic  countries  and  are  not  per- 
mitted to  read  history  that  will  inform  them.  The 
credit  for  the  advantages  of  a  Protestant  civilization,  the 
priests  take  to  themselves,  and  the  fact  of  Protestantism 
enables  them  to  work  upon  the  minds  of  their  adherents, 
to  stimulate  their  prejudices,  their  sentiment  for  the 
church,  and  keep  them  in  abject  submission.  The 
priest's  party  of  "Clericals"  include  practically  all  the  ad- 
herents of  the  church,  and  they  are  a  distinct  factor  in 
politics.  As  such  they  are  looked  upon  by  politicians; 
their  support  is  a  commodity  in  the  market  to  be  bought 
by  concessions,  etc.  Their  support  can  be  thus  bought  but 
not  their  disinterested  loyalty,  for  that  belongs  to  Rome 
alone.  How  far  Rome  may  go  in  demanding  "conces- 
sions", and  how  far  politicians  may  go  in  acceding  to 
the  demands,  is  a  matter  that  is  studied  with  skill  and 
care.  But  the  only  thing  that  can  stop  the  church  from 
pushing  her  demands  to  the  full  extent  of  her  claim,  is 
force.  Political  offices  and  emoluments  may  answer  to 
begin  with.  State  appropriations  for  her  denomination- 
al institutions  may  do  for  a  season;  a  division  of  the 


2i6  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

school  fund  will  next  be  thought  of,  but  all  these  will 
only  be  steps  in  the  process  towards  the  enforcement  of 
all  that  is  involved  in  her  principle  of  supreme  rule. 
Plotting,  scheming  and  agressive  movements  would  not 
cease  till  this  is  accomplished.  The  Catholic  church 
could  not  be  true  to  herself  if  she  should  rest  till  she  had 
gained  all  she  had  lost  since  the  reformation.  As  long 
as  there  is  a  Protestant  to  protest  against  her  principles 
and  doctrines,  against  her  claim  to  universal  rule,  she 
must  continue  the  warfare  with  all  the  weapons  that  are 
at  her  command.  Sooner  or  later  the  conflict  must 
come,  here  as  elsewhere.  The  State  would  either  have 
to  surrender  itself  or  be  forced  into  action.  To  this  it 
has  come  in  every  country  where  the  Catholic  church  is 
strong,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case  it  cannot  be  other- 
wise. Force  sufficient  to  overawe  and  check  is  the  only 
thing  that  ever  stopped  her  from  pushing  onward  to  the  ex- 
termination of  all  opposition,  and  the  only  thing  she  can 
consistently  yield  to. 

The  position  of  the  Catholic  church  in  any  country 
that  does  not  allow  her  claim  of  supremacy,  is  an  awk- 
ward and  unnatural  one.  She  claims  the  good  will  of 
the  government  with  which  her  principles  are  unalterably 
at  war.  She  claims  shelter  and  protection  of  a  govern- 
ment, which,  according  to  her  claims  and  pretensions,  are 
an  usurpation,  which  she  is  on  principle,  if  not  in  fact, 
bound  to  oppose.  If  the  church  is  called  upon  to  ex- 
plain or  defend  this  position,  the  answer  is  evasive  and 
equivocative.  Now  and  then  a  bold  spirit  will  openly  ac- 
knowledge the  situation  as  it  exists,  and  plainly  tells  us  it 
means  war  on  principle,  and  in  fact,  if  they  had  the 
power.  In  no  case  will  they  deny  the  principle  that  the 
church  ought  to  be  supreme  over  the  civil  power,  and 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  217 

has  a  right  to  use  the  civil  power  for  the  enforcement  of 
obedience  to  her  will  and  conformity  to  her  laws.  Nor 
will  they  under  any  circumstances  repudiate  their  "holy 
fathers"  who  enforced  obedience  with  fire  and  sword. 
The  best  answer  the  politic  ecclesiastics  can  give, 
and  the  which  in  fact  they  generally  give,  is  in  effect: 
that  although  the  church  is  on  principle  opposed  to  tol- 
eration and  religious  liberty,  and  opposed  to  everything 
that  opposes  her  principle,  yet  as  a  matter  of  policy  she 
may  tolerate.  No  explanation  Rome  ever  gave,  how- 
ever manifestly,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  confidence 
among  Protestants,  ever  went  farther  than  this.  The 
policy  of  toleration  may  be  adopted  for  two  reasons,  first 
because  intolerance  might  endanger  her  standing  and  hurt 
her  chance  of  gaining  converts  among  Protestants;  and 
secondly,  enforcement  of  the  principle  may  be  impossible 
for  want  of  power.  Of  course  both  considerations  re- 
solve themselves  into  this,  that  she  tolerates  when  she 
lacks  the  power  to  enforce  obedience  and  submission. 
And  as  a  matter  of  fact  she  never  yielded  the  right  to 
Protestants  except  for  this  consideration.  What  power 
she  possesses  in  Catholic  countries  she  uses  to  restrict 
and  circumscribe  the  rights  of  Protestants  as  much  as 
the  civil  power  will  permit. 

Nations  like  individuals  soon  forget  past  experience 
and  have  to  learn  the  same  lessons  over  again.  In 
Catholic  countries  the  experience  is  so  recent  that  it  is 
not  forgotten;  the  church  is  kept  in  check  by  the  strong 
arm  of  the  law.  In  Protestant  countries  they  call  it 
courage  and  liberality  to  forget  and  ignore  the  past, 
which  they  do  not  even  have  the  courage  to  think  of 
soberly,  or  look  at  with  a  mind  to  realize  what  it  meant. 
The  wily  priests  are  aping  the  cant  of  liberalism,  and 


21 8  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

liberals  are -transported  with  hopes  of  the  near  conversion 
of  the  Catholic  church.  They  are  in  ecstacy  over  the  jest- 
ing,cynical  references  to  liberality  made  by  the  priests,  and 
catch  at  it  eagerly  as  a  sign  that  the  world  is  now  about  to 
drop  into  beautiful  harmony  at  its  own  accord,  because 
fate  and  evolution  has  decreed  it.  But  the  Roman  ec- 
clesiastics are  not  fatalists;  they  do  not  amuse  themselves 
with  theories  except  at  the  expense  of  the  Protestants. 
They  do  not  wait  for  things  to  come  about  in  their  favor 
at  their  own  accord.  They  keep  their  aim  steadily  in 
view,  and  work  for  it  zealously,  incessantly  and  guarded- 
ly. The  fatalism  of  evolution  theories  is  no  match  for 
them.  Protestants  may  simper  and  smile  and  talk  sen- 
timent; Rome  will  smile  back  till  she  has  the  requisite 
power,  then  the  tone  changes.  Rome  will  never  recon- 
cile herself  to  the  results  of  the  reformation.  These  results 
were  gained  only  after  centuries  of  bloody  wars  and  per- 
secutions, and  the  sacrifice  of  millions  of  heroes  and 
martyrs  on  the  battlefield  and  the  scaffold.  A  skeptical  and 
indifferent  population,  who  have  substituted  for  Chris- 
tianity a  sentiment  and  a  theory  equally  flimsy  and  su- 
perficial, take  it  for  granted  that  these  results,  gained  at 
such  tremendous  cost,  will  be  preserved  to  them  without 
any  effort  on  their  part,  but  while  the  theorists,  senti- 
mentalists and  liberals  are  flying  their  kites,  Rome  is 
laying  the  foundation  for  renewed  struggles  to  regain  her 
ancient  power. 

There  has  of  late  years  been  unusual  stir  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  She  has  discovered  in  her  system  new 
strength,  indicated  by  gains  in  England  and  the  United 
States,  which  neither  she  nor  the  Protestants  suspected. 
In  times  past  she  mistrusted  her  ability  to  hold  her  own 
in  the  presence  of  truth  and  enlightenment.    She  was 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  219 

unduly  afraid  of  her  own  knavery  in  thinkinp^  that  her 
adherents  would  at  once  fall  away  if  they  got  a  Bible  in 
their  hands  or  came  in  contact  with  a  purer  form  of 
Christianity.  She  did  not  know  enough  of  human  nature 
to  present  with  confidence  her  errors  for  acceptance  in 
the  presence  of  truth.  But  she  has  learned  now  that  she 
has  little  to  fear  from  human  nature,  or  any  innate  love  of 
truth  on  the  part  of  man.  Her  accommodations  to  his 
carnal  nature  count  more  with  him  than  the  truth  which 
is  distasteful.  So  she  has  boldly  put  on  her  best  appear- 
ance, and  challenged  Protestantism  in  the  most  enlight- 
ened countries.  Her  successes  in  England  and  the 
United  States  have  buoyed  her  hopes  and  strengthened 
her  purpose.  She  has  increased  her  wiles,  heightened  her 
zeal  and  enlarged  her  efforts.  Could  she  gain  one  of  the 
great  Anglo-Saxon  nations  and  make  a  large  party  in 
the  other,  it  would  destroy  the  balance  that  now  exists 
between  Catholic  and  Protestants.  There  would  be  need 
of  a  stronger  sentiment  in  her  favor  in  Catholic  countries, 
but  the  sentiment  of  the  masses  changes  readily  and  she 
is  not  without  ground  for  hope.  From  his  lair  at  the 
Vatican,  the  ecclesiastical  tiger  is  narrowly  observing  the 
movements  of  the  people  of  Catholic  countries,  and 
watching  for  an  opportunity  to  spring  at  the  throat  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  The  readiness  with  which 
the  masses  pass  from  one  extreme  to  the  other  is  under- 
stood, and  the  anarchy,  disorders  and  general  discontent 
may  bring  about  a  reaction  in  favor  of  religious  fanaticism 
and  ecclesiastical  control.  The  nations  have  had  a  little 
time  in  which  to  forget  their  past  experience,  else  they 
would  not  flee  from  anarchy  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  for  the  former  is  a  merciful  institution 
compared  with  the  latter.    We  had  better  be  blown  out 


220  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

of  the  world  at  once  by  the  bomb  of  the  anarchist,  than 
be  taken  out  of  it  piecemeal  by  the  slow  tortures  of  the 
inquisition;  we  had  better  not  be  under  any  law,  than  be 
under  laws  that  leave  us  helpless  in  the  h^nds  of  our 
enemies. 

Her  aim  and  principle  is  the  same,  but  her  policy  is  a 
matter  of  circumstances.  Where  there  is  no  hope  im- 
mediately of  forcing  her  way  it  is  not  a  matter  of  policy 
to  keep  her  principle  of  supremacy  at  the  front,  which 
alone  can  be  carried  by  force.  It  is  rather  a  matter  of 
policy  in  a  Protestant  country  to  keep  it  out  of  sight,  for 
it  is  here  an  object  to  gain  confidence  and  it  is  not  readily 
gained  in  view  of  her  past  history,.  It  is  sufficient  that 
her  followers  are  trained  to  absolute  and  unquestioned 
obedience,  so  that  they  may  be  ready  for  anything  at  all 
times.  This  training  of  her  followers  is  her  immediate 
concern,  and  to  this  end  is  her  policy  in  the  United 
States  mainly  directed.  The  priests  are  wary  and  active; 
they  take  charge  of  the  immigrants  as  they  arrive,  and 
sequester  their  children  in  parochial  schools,  where  they 
are  taught  submission  to  the  priests,  and  unqualified 
obedience  to  the  church;  where  they  are  fed  upon  Catho- 
lic tradition,  and  history  perverted  and  distorted  to 
hide  the  truth,  in  the  lurid  light  of  which  the  Catholic 
church  would  look  hideous.  They  are  carefully  watch- 
ed, controlled  and  guarded  from  outside  influence,  till 
they  turn  out  full-fledged  fanatics,  such  as  we  have  seen 
them  in  the  streets  of  our  own  cities;  Catholic  mobs, 
their  faces  distorted  by  malice  and  ferocity,  exhibiting 
the  spirit  that  would  love  to  do  the  deeds  of  their 
fathers.  And  the  whole  provocation  somebody  criticis- 
ing their  church,  or  discussing  religious  questions  in 
which  it  was  involved.    If  the  reformers  of  the  sixteenth 


MPENDiNG  Struggle  of  Races.  221 

century  had  been  content  to  keep  their  convictions  to 
themselves,  there  would  have  been  no  trouble,  neither 
would  there  have  been  any  reformation. 

We  should  understand  what  the  Catholic  church  is, 
not  to  incite  to  petty  spite  or  jealousies  which  are  whol- 
ly unprofitable,  but  that  we  may  take  a  rational  and  en- 
lightened view  of  the  situation.  Let  the  nation  under- 
stand the  rules  and  principles  of  the  church,  and  deal 
with  her  in  the  light  of  a  fair  understanding;  as  it  is  done 
in  Catholic  countries  where  no  effort  is  made  on  the 
part  of  either  party  to  slur  over  the  fact  of  opposition 
and  antipathy.  The  State  stands  prepared  to  enforce 
its  laws  over  against  the  church,  and  the  church  respects 
the  superior  power  of  the  government.  Pretentions  of 
peace,  harmony  and, sympathy  between  the  church  and 
a  Protestant,  or  any  other  government  that  rejects  her 
claims  are  silly  and  hypercritical  on  both  sides.  At 
best  there  can  be  only  peace  founded  on  policy,  and  the 
nation  should  understand  that  force  alone  makes  it  policy 
for  the  Catholic  Church  to  keep  the  peace.  She  should 
be  recognized  for  what  she  is:  a  danger  to  every  govern- 
ment that  rejects  her  claim  to  supreme  control,  and 
measures  should  be  taken  to  abate  and  minimize  the 
danger  as  much  as  possible.  A  law  that  would  exclude 
immigrants  of  Jesuital  tendencies,  would  not  violate  the 
rights  nor  wound  the  feelings  of  European  nationalities, 
for  they  have  all  had  experience  with  Jesuitism  and 
know  what  it  is.  It  would  interfere  with  nobody's  right 
to  profess  and  practice  his  faith,  and  stay  at  home  and  do 
it.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  press  upon  them  this  priv- 
ilege, or  else.  South  America  and  Mexico  are  open  to 
them,  where  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Latin  rage 
reign  supreme, 


222  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

Absolute  control  of  immigration  is  the  one  means 
and  the  only  one  by  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in 
North  America  can  preserve  itself  and  its  civilization. 
The  policy  of  liberalism  that  refuses  to  discriminate, 
must  give  place  to  the  policy  of  nationalism,  that  care- 
fully selects  those  that  will  make  good  citizens,  and 
rigorously  excludes  those  that  do  not.  We  want  those 
immigrants  that  are  in  sympathy  with  our  civilization 
and  government,  as  much  as  we  do  not  want  those  that 
are  not.  The  slight  increase  of  native  Americans  de- 
mands this  as  good  policy  and  a  needed  contribution  to 
our  ^population.  The  nationalities  of  northern  Europe 
kindred  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  are  the  only  ones 
that  can  be  depended  on  to  make  Americans.  They 
will  not  come  here  if  the  country  is  overrun  by  aliens 
of  other  races.  They  will  not  work  in  competition  with 
them,  nor  accept  the  chances  they  offer  for  life  and  se- 
curity. The  proof  of  this  is  that  immigrants  of  these 
nationalities  have  decreased  in  number  in  proportion  as 
those  of  the  other  class  have  increased.  They  are  now 
rather  leaving  our  shores  for  home,  but  the  aliens  are  pour- 
ing in  unceasingly.  We  have  to  choose  between  them; 
we  can  have  those  that  are  properly  speaking  our  own, 
or  those  that  are  hostile  in  every  instinct  of  their  men- 
tal and  moral  make  up.  A  tax  put  upon  immigrants 
indiscriminately,  or  any  measure  of  that  sort,  would  not 
improve  the  quality,  and  would  therefore  not  be  in  har- 
mony with  a  national  policy.  It  would  be  cowardly  to 
deny  ourselves  the  right  to  receive  those  that  would  be 
a  benefit  to  us,  for  the  sake  of  an  excuse  for  rejecting 
those  we  do  not  want.  Any  policy  that  refuses  to  dis- 
criminate between  the  two  classes  is  cowardly,  unreason- 
able and  unpatriotic.    Immigrants  that  are  a  danger  to 


Impending  Struggle  of  Races.  223 

our  national  life  we  c?ould  not  afford  to  take  at  any 
price.  We  could  afford  to  tax  ourselves  to  encourage 
immigrants  that  would  add  strength  to  our  national  life 
and  character.  We  should  encourage  them,  not  because 
they  need  America,  but  because  America  needs  them. 
Let  alone,  the  aliens  would  even  now  by  reason  of 
their  greater  natural  increase  in  time  outnumber  Ameri- 
cans. The  economic  conditions  of  our  country  that  di-  . 
vide  the  population  between  the  employer  of  large 
numbers  of  men  and  the  employe,  are  in  their  favor; 
they  have  only  to  underbid  our  own  workmen  to  secure 
room  for  growth  and  increase.  The  constructive  genius 
of  Americans  paves  the  way  for  them,  it  does  the  plan- 
ning and  thinking,  it  gives  them  chance  to  take  root  and 
•  grow,  till  they  are  able  to  plan  for  themselves.  The 
owners  of  wealth  will  derive  a  temporal  benefit  from 
the  cheapening  of  labor,  but  it  will  be  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  the  increased  insecurity.  Their  possession 
of  the  wealth  of  the  country  is  mere  nominal;  they  can 
keep  it  only  as  the  masses  consent  to  it.  The  aliens 
now  coming  to  our  shores  are  not  negroes  by  any 
means,  they  are  of  a  positive  type  and  of  warlike  races. 
There  will  be  no  more  af¥inity  between  the  Anglo-Sax- 
on, the  Latin,  the  Celt,  the  Slav  in  this  country  than  in 
other  countries.  There  is  more  to  keep  them  apart; 
they  do  not  even  have  the  tradition  of  a  common  native 
land  as  elsewhere,  and  the  United  States  is  so  great 
a  prize,  that  races  and  religions  will  find  it  worth  the 
while  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  win  it. 
Anyone  may  even  now  read  this  in  the  signs  of  the  * 
times. 

When  a  ship  at  sea  is  in  danger  from  a  leak,  the 
first  thing  is  to  stop  the  infjuj^  of  water,  Americans 


224  Christianity  and  Our  Times. 

have  it  now  in  their  power  to  stdp  the  influx  of  strang- 
ers that  threaten  to  submerge  them  in  the  waves  of 
their  immigration.  The  power  will  not  stay  with  them 
very  long  at  the  present  rate,  they  had  better  use  it 
while  they  possess  it.  It  will  take  an  effort  to  break 
resolutely  with  past  tradition  and  a  past  policy,  even 
though  this  policy  has  no  reference  to  present  condi- 
tions. It  is  easier  to  drift  than  to  steer  our  course; 
easier  to  allow  circumstances  to  rule  us  than  to  rule  them, 
but  we  have  to  undertake  to  rule  circumstances  in  this 
matter,  or  become  their  victims. 

If  Americans  should  make  up  their  minds  to  take 
the  destiny  of  the  nation  into  their  own  hands,  and  de- 
termine it  by  determining  the  character  of  the  people  that 
is  to  occupy  the  country,  then  this  would  hasten  the  in-  • 
evitable,  that  is — a  reunion  with  Canada.  Our  southern 
frontier  might  be  guarded,  but  the  northern  of  three 
thousand  miles  would  be  an  open  gate,  through  which 
immigration  would  pour  in  scarcely  diminished  numbers. 
We  have  already  had  a  proof  of  this  in  our  effort  to 
quarantine  against  infectious  disease.  The  right  to  Can- 
ada would  have  to  be  settled  on  its  merits,  even  if  force 
had  to  be  used.  That  the  actual  or  moral  right  lies  with 
the  United  States,  cannot  be  questioned.  England  has 
the  right  of  conquest  which  is  no  moral  or  actual  right, 
she  could  not  find  fault  if  she  lost  by  force  what  she  has 
taken  by  force.  The  actual  or  moral  right  must  be  based 
first  on  the  material  welfare  of  the  people  concerned: 
that  the  unnatural  border-line  of  three  thousand  miles, 
*  with  its  row  of  custom  houses,  is  a  serious  hindrance  to 
the  material  development  of  both  countries  is  evident, 
and  as  an  inconvenience  in  every  way  it  will  increase 
continually.    The  actual  or  moral  right  should  also  be 


